Legacy
by Fliptailser
Summary: In the aftermath of a devastating storm, Lugia's wayward friend helps him search for his missing son. As the two travel together—posing as a Trainer and his Pokémon—they discover that Lugia's legacy isn't the only one that needs to be saved.
1. Prologue

1. Prologue

Raios appeared out of nowhere, in a damp flooded cavern somewhere in the ocean. He had some good news for his friend, and the surprise couldn't wait until morning.

"Raios!" greeted Lugia as soon as he noticed Raios there in the cave with him. He swam up to his friend, neck-deep in cool seawater. "I have underestimated your mental prowess, if you can teleport from there to here so effortlessly."

"I can't," said Raios. "I'm actually sleeping right now. But instead of dreaming normally, I reached out and found your mind. I'm dreaming in _your_ head in a way."

The big guy tilted his head. "Your presence here is just my hallucination, then?"

"Right."

Lugia seemed impressed. "That's a novel technique. I hardly sleep at all, so I have never explored the capabilities of a mind freed from its body."

"I guess I could teach it to you sometime," Raios said. "Anyway, I have some news."

"Oh. Good news, I hope—"

"I found him, Lugia! I checked their news, and they've got him somewhere."

Raios felt Lugia's mind open up suddenly, and strong feelings poured out—bright glimmers of joy, warm beams of love, and most of all an immense wave of relief. And then some embarrassment. "You felt all of that," Lugia said quietly.

"Sorry," said Raios. "I should've distanced—"

"No, it is my fault. I let my guard down in my excitement." Lugia gave off a faint heaviness. "I'm only ever that close with my son."

"Don't worry," said Raios quickly. "All we have to do now is get him back from the humans. They can't be that bad if they rescued him, right?"

Lugia went still. "That is a wishful thought if I ever have heard one, Raios. Never blindly entrust them with anything, especially my son."

"There are as many good guys as baddies, Lugia. You're being too hard on them."

"I have given them plenty of chances."

Raios figured Lugia would never budge from that viewpoint. "…So, for tomorrow. I'm going to see how they're keeping him, and we'll come up with a plan to get him released into the sea. I'll see you again tomorrow night like this if you want."

"I must tell you, Raios, that I can hardly wait idly in my cave while my son languishes in captivity. I wish to disguise as a human and come with you soon."

Raios imagined walking around town with a human the size of a ship. "Well, you have to consider your size. Even if you can transform, you can't just delete mass. You'll be a giant."

"I considered exactly that problem, and I believe I know how to address it," said Lugia. "There is a process by which I can miniaturize significantly in a day or two. I'm willing to do it—excited, even! I have never ventured over land ever since… long ago."

"Well, okay," said Raios. "You get a head start on the… shrinking, and I'll see you again tomorrow night."

"Many thanks," said Lugia, bowing his head and yawning at the same time. "Maybe now I can rest. I don't know how to repay you."

"We'd be even, actually," said Raios. "I'm going to leave now. Good night!"

"Farewell, friend."

And then Raios disappeared—his mind drifted back to sleep, into a dream where he breathed underwater but couldn't remember how to swim. Despite his experience with dream control, he couldn't figure out how to move himself through the water. He seemed formless in the current, so he drifted along with it, letting his mind relax. Soon his dream lost its lucidity, becoming a jumble of random illogical scenes.


	2. No Slight Complication

2. No Slight Complication

Raios sat on the bleachers by the side of the pool and watched his first-ever aquatic battle.

The two Pokémon involved fought one-on-one, darting around in the water after each other. Their Trainers stood on opposite ends of the pool, giving out commands. "Aqua Jet!" said one, and her red fish Pokémon blasted through the water in a blurry spray.

"Here it comes!" warned her opponent. He seemed to know it was no use dodging, because he simply told his Sharpedo to prepare for the hit. When the inevitable collision came, the Sharpedo recovered quickly and snapped at the red fish before it could escape.

But rather than watch the Trainers yell the whole time, Raios tuned them out and listened to their Pokémon.

"Aagh, my tail!" cried the red fish as he swam away. He inspected his injury quickly. "Well… it's gonna take more than _that _to take me down!"

The Sharpedo circled around. "Sorry about that," he called. "If it makes you feel better, you taste pretty good. I think." He charged forward, paying only minimal attention to his target. "I didn't get a good bite though—"

"Eat _this!"_ cried the red fish, jumping from the water to avoid his opponent. When he reentered the pool he did a twisting move, turning the whole motion into a powerful water attack. The Sharpedo got caught in the current, and he cried out when it threw him against the wall of the pool.

"You know what else tastes good?" the red fish taunted. "Victory!"

"What kind of move was that?! I think I broke a tooth!" whined the Sharpedo. The match seemed to be over, so he gently swam to the surface. "My Trainer didn't help me at all."

"It's okay," said the red fish. He followed the Sharpedo, saying, "It took forever for Annie and me to get the hang of battling."

"It's just that… I want to do things, but then my Trainer says to do something else… and then I usually get hit… and then yelled at." The Sharpedo groaned. "And then I lose."

"You didn't do _that_ bad," said the red fish as his Trainer talked to the Sharpedo's. "It's just that you got me as an opponent!"

"I'm hungry," was the Sharpedo's response. "You know, maybe we can train together. I wonder if our Trainers are gonna be friends."

"That'd be pretty cool. Do you have a name?"

"Sharpy."

"Cool. I'm Basco. Wanna be pals?"

"Okay… pals. Eghh, I'm sore all over… and hungry."

As the Pokémon talked on, a black-haired woman in a lab coat approached Raios, drawing his attention away from Basco and Sharpy. "Hey you," she said. "Are you the quote-unquote 'Lugia expert' trying to get into the veterinary wing?" she asked.

"Probably," said Raios.

He was on the front row, so the woman sat on the bleachers next to him and offered her hand to shake. "Well. I'm Lynn. I'm the principal marine veterinarian here."

"Are you the one taking care of the Lugia?"

"I am." She gazed out at the pool, where Basco and Sharpy were playing with each other. "I'll be brief—our policy is that you can only get in the veterinary side of this building if you're staff or one of your Pokémon is in our care. Lugia enthusiasts don't qualify as either, so you can't get in normally… but I'm talking to you right now because you might be in a position to help me. There's a problem with Lugia that none of us have figured out. It's mystery enough for a TV medical drama." Lynn turned to Raios. "What I think is that we need someone who knows about Lugia to inform us. There _has _to be something we don't know about him at the root of this."

"You can trust me." From the way Lynn presented her problem so vaguely, Raios felt she had yet to do so.

"Good." She stood up. "So, what's your name?"

"Andrew Raios. You can call me Raios."

"Well. I'm sure you won't object if we head to the veterinary wing right now. Follow me—but remember I can kick you out at any time."

* * *

"The Marine Center started as a water-type Gym, you know," said Lynn as she led Raios down the wide white hallway. "With Olivine City by the sea and all, I think it would've been a good fit. But we have a steel Gym for some reason."

"Do you battle people?" Raios asked.

"Well. I used to. I've been way too busy for that lately. What about you?"

"I like watching, I guess. Listening to the Pokémon give it their all."

"Listening?"

"You know what I mean."

As they walked down the hall, they occasionally passed other employees. About half were wearing wetsuits, and most of them gave Raios long looks as he went by. The reactions were pretty evenly divided between good humor and suspicion.

"We have a decent number of pools here," Lynn continued. "We use them for Pokémon research as well as care. The city's Pokémon Centers give us any water-dwelling Pokémon they can't accommodate." Lynn turned and pushed open a wide double door. "We rarely take in wild Pokémon, but you can imagine how exceptional this one is."

They came to an indoor pool about as large as the battling pool, but with a long sloping shallow end facing the door. A large white figure rested there at the slope's top, where the tiled floor angled gently into the water. He slept belly-up in a few inches of water, his neck slightly curled. A clear tube went into his nose, but he still breathed regularly, his mouth hung open just a crack.

He had minor cuts and bruises in several places, and bandages attached to or wrapped around his body seemed to conceal any more severe injuries. One wing was hidden in a thick cast. The nose tube and a few waterproof cables trailed from him to a dry corner of the room, where medical instruments reported how he was faring. Raios glanced from those devices to the sleeping figure—everything seemed to be physically okay, but Raios couldn't detect any mental activity.

"I know he looks fine," said Lynn, "but his state is gradually worsening. Healing has slowed significantly. And he doesn't wake up. Go ahead and look at him however you like, Raios—just don't do anything idiotic." She retreated to a bench a few feet away by the wall, where she picked up a clipboard and watched.

Raios walked up to the sleeping body, making thin ripples as he went. The young Lugia was small compared to his father, but he still outsized any human. Raios guessed the kid would be around seven feet tall if he stood up, and who knows how heavy.

"Well. Here's the specific problem," Lynn said. "Lugia isn't waking up. He's in a comatose state. We are clueless as to how it started, because none of his injuries could have possibly caused this condition."

"Hold on," said Raios. "Who's the 'we' you keep using? So far all I've seen is you."

"Myself… and a couple of other vets from the Marine Center. At first we needed help from the Pokémon Center, but now it's just me. No use having a team of people now, when there are others to take care of."

"A coma… "

"It means he won't respond to anything. He is completely unconscious, and unwakeable."

"I know what it means." Raios feared the worst. "So his mind is gone?"

"If so, it is inexplicable." Lynn shook her head. "None of the injuries are to his head."

Raios felt his shoes soaking through, so he moved to sit next to Lynn. "So the problem is all about Lugia's mind. How much do you know about their psychic powers?"

"Nothing. I know they're supposed to exist, but this Lugia gave no evidence of any psychic abilities."

"They _are _very powerful psychics." Raios glanced over at Lynn's clipboard, but she placed it on the far side of the bench before he could read anything. "You know this is a young one, right?"

"Well. I considered that, due to the accounts of Lugia being much larger. But if this is a young one, is there a population of Lugia? How rare are they? And if there are multiple Lugia out there, one would think some Trainers would have caught some by now. I'd imagine their strength to be alluring."

"There is only one Lugia," explained Raios, "but before that one becomes too old he raises a son to be his successor."

"Interesting… can Lugia still reproduce if this offspring is lost?"

Raios gazed at Lugia's son. "I don't know."

"I agree. I can't bear to think that Lugia is at risk of extinction here." Lynn stood up, taking her clipboard with her. "Well. It's noon, and I can't stand racking my brain over this all day. I have other concerns to worry about, and I can't have you alone in here with Lugia, so—"

"Wait, why not?"

Lynn paused before she spoke, like a parent dumbing something down for her kid. "If someone finds you here, you'll get kicked out and_ I'll_ get in trouble. If you leave now like I ask, then only the former will have taken place." Lynn pushed open the door, and Raios reluctantly followed her into the hallway. "I can only free up my mornings to be here like this, so you'll have to come back tomorrow," she continued. "How can I contact you in case I need something?"

Raios had no phone. "I'll be back tomorrow, don't worry."

"Do you not have a phone? Where are you staying?"

"I… over by the beach."

"Oh no—did the storm compromise your home?"

"No. I just don't _live_ live around here."

"Ah, let me guess—you're camping out like a Trainer. Honestly, I can hardly imagine someone your age going without a phone. It'd be wise to get one, so you can stay in touch with people you meet in your travels."

Raios had hardly any money, but a phone seemed like a useful device to have. "Where can I get one around here?"

"Well. There's a large electronics store near the waterfront. But I'm not sure when it'll reopen… that area experienced some significant flooding." Lynn flipped through the pages on her clipboard. "Do you think there's any connection between Lugia and the bizarre tempest we had a few days ago? The legends say Lugia has some sort of power over storms."

"You definitely found him after the storm… but since he's a young one, I don't think so. The bad weather probably just overpowered him."

"Poor creature."

They reached the lobby, where Lynn gestured at the door. "Well. Thank you for the information. I know we didn't get much closer to solving the problem, but by tomorrow I think we'll have a course of action. And more time."

"Okay," said Raios. He made for the door, but then he remembered something. "Do you mind if I bring someone else, too, eventually? He's as much of a Lugia expert as I am, maybe even more."

"Well." Lynn shrugged. "Sure. But this needs to be as low-profile as possible."

"Is that why you asked me and not some professional?"

"…Yes."

"Well, I'm glad you did."

"…Have a good afternoon, Raios."

Raios left the Marine Center feeling relieved—he was no longer under Lynn's scrutiny, and Lugia's son was safe too. The coma part worried him, obviously—but the mind had to be in there somewhere, and if Raios worked together with Lugia their psychic strength could probably work to save it.

Raios decided to think about it more when he talked to Lugia, and he spent the rest of the day fishing on an isolated rocky shore. He caught several fish, but they were wild and didn't speak. He briefly wanted to capture one, to watch as it miraculously became able to talk like Basco or Sharpy, but he didn't have any Poké Balls. He tossed each fish back into the ocean before they could send any attacks his way.

* * *

"Ah, Raios!"

Lugia had noticed Raios immediately this time. "I was wondering when you would appear," he said. "Sleep continues to evade me, so I devoted the spare hours to physical reduction. Observe how I have become smaller, just as I promised!" He spread his wings, as if demonstrating their reduced span. "What an exhilarating development! The world around me has become twice as spacious! I feel light and agile, as well."

"You're still big as a boat."

"I am not finished, that much is true." Lugia looked himself over. "By tomorrow, however, I will likely be small enough to walk beside you."

"So, for what I found out today," Raios said. "Some good news and some bad news."

"As is always the case..."

"The good news is that I got to see your son today. They let me see him, I mean. He's hurt, but they're taking care of him, and none of his physical injuries look like anything to worry about in the long run."

"They?"

"This veterinarian named Lynn. She's like a doctor for marine animals. She's kinda stuffy, but I think she cares a lot."

"He is healing, then." Lugia gave a small sigh of relief, but then he asked, "Did you not speak to him? Is there still a problem?"

"That's the bad news… he was out cold the whole time. He had no mental activity at all. Lynn said he's in a coma."

Lugia sighed, and what remained of his cheer evaporated. "If there is such a thing as luck, mine has been rather cruel these past few days," he reflected after a minute. "Is the condition permanent? Indefinite?"

"I don't know. And they don't know how it happened. None of the injuries were to his head."

"So now we must deal with this as well. This is no slight complication." Lugia didn't bother to conceal his feelings of bitterness and frustration—anything to avoid falling into despair. "I know you're a persistent advocate for the humans, Raios, but I just can't bring myself to believe that this isn't their doing!"

"We should just worry about the coma itself for now, not who started it."

Lugia shook his head. "Regardless, I refuse to wait here any longer," he declared. "I am intimately connected with my son—and until I can reestablish that bond in person, we are stumbling around in the dark and squandering our time."

"I know... but you're still too big to come with me, Lugia."

"As a human, perhaps. But I have devised another plan—I can pose instead as a creature belonging to you. I can transform tonight and locate you in the morning—not as Lugia, but as a common animal! And most importantly of all, I can leave the human interaction to you."

"But if I'm going to be your owner, you'll have to actually obey me." Raios couldn't imagine Lugia taking orders, let alone commands from humans.

The not-so-big guy nodded gently. "I'm happiest to obey you of all people, Raios, never fear. Just protect me from those capture spheres of theirs."

"I have no idea how they work. But if you stick by me, no one should throw any at you." Raios was a bit wary of them, too—he had been inside one once, but all he could remember was breaking free and fleeing as fast as he could.

"They seem like portable prisons... but the effects that they have on the captured animals are quite interesting," yawned Lugia. "They border on the miraculous. And even I cannot deny that strong bonds sometimes form between humans and their caught companions."

"You know, you should probably start transforming now," Raios prompted. "The sooner the better."

"Yes. We can discuss things at length later." Lugia watched Raios expectantly. "Good night, friend!"

"…What, I can't watch?"

"I can assure you that you won't want to observe my clumsy motions, as I get accustomed to my new form, for the rest of the night," said Lugia. "I can locate you on my own tomorrow—just enjoy a dream or two and allow me to surprise you."

"Before I go, I have a question for you," Raios said.

Lugia tilted his head. "What kind of question?"

"Can you control the weather?"

"Oh. To some degree, yes. What I have over the weather is influence, not control. It is an unusual power—when a storm brews, I sometimes feel it should be stronger or weaker, and I exert myself to make it so."

"Why would you want to make a storm worse?"

"My son would… ask the very same question. I know not of a strictly logical reason, but when I magnify the weather's intensity I experience an exhilarating catharsis. I like to imagine it has the same effect on the ocean. These inclinations are primal, from deep within—inexplicable perhaps, but I do not question my role on nature's stage."

"What did you feel about last week's storm?" Raios asked. "Lynn said it was bizarre."

"Indeed it was." Lugia floated on his back, staring up at the distant jagged ceiling of his flooded cave. "I… I quell storms on occasion too, that should be clear… but I can't strive to make the weather perpetually clement! Surely you know about such concepts as nature's balance. There will be beautiful days, and there will be storms. Who am I to interfere with that system? I simply act on my instincts."

Raios nodded slowly, letting Lugia's somewhat flustered argument sink in. "I guess you're right. It's just that the storm ruined some human settlements…"

"I'm a guardian of the sea, friend. Not of humankind." Lugia looked stern, but after a few moments he shook his head. "That sounded crass. I apologize, Raios. I know you care about their well-being."

"Good." Raios yawned, which was interesting because he was already sleeping. "I'd love to go back and forth about humans yet again, but I think I need some real sleep."

Lugia laughed. "Yes, of course! The brief exchange of last night was certainly enough. We have more pressing matters to fret about." After Raios vanished, he sank into the water and prepared himself for another sleepless night.


	3. The Dragon Pokémon

3. The Dragon Pokémon

Raios walked down the road into town with his new Pokémon.

The creature formerly known as Lugia tried to ignore the bothering, curious glances coming his way. "I think I'm garnering as much attention as I would had I come in my true form," he noted.

"They just want to get a good look at you," responded Raios. Their communication was telepathic, so no one else could hear. "You're not the 'common animal' you said you would be!"

"I know, I know. I originally wanted to be as innocuous as possible, but I had to compromise—I couldn't bear to give up flight." He walked right at Raios's side, wary of the people around him. "To be honest, I don't understand how you can."

"Sometimes the important stuff is sitting on the ground."

"If that is a metaphor, I fail to see its meaning."

Shortly after entering Olivine City, Raios led the way into a large white building with large glass windows and a red roof. It was still early in the morning, so only a few people waited around in the spacious, brightly lit lobby. From the posted signs and the dress of the staff it was clear that the main purpose of the building was to care for Pokémon.

"Is this where my son is being held?"

Raios imagined a small Lugia flying by on a gurney. "No, but if you're going to be with me I should—"

"Welcome to the Pokémon Center!" greeted a nurse from the counter. "Need anything?"

"Oh, hi. Do you know where I can get a Trainer Card?" asked Raios.

"The person will need to be here in person to receive one," said the nurse. "Unless it's… for you?" When Raios nodded, she peered over the counter at his friend. "I've never heard of someone starting off with a Salamence." She smiled at Raios. "I'm from Hoenn. The only Trainers I've ever seen with Salamence are super-tough elites or those weird types who straight-up _live_ with the dragons. And you don't seem too much like either."

"I'm not. This guy's just been with me since he was a Bagon," explained Raios. Salamence stared down a hallway to the side, choosing to peer into the depths of the building rather than endure the conversation. "I can't put off getting a card any longer, I think."

"You got that right." The nurse typed on a computer at the counter for a second. "We can begin now, if you'll start with your name."

"Andrew Raios."

"Okay, Andrew. Is there a phrase or anything you want the card to say?"

"How about mind over matter?"

"Hmm, I didn't know you were the psychic type."

"Wh—"

"Ha, just kidding!" The girl giggled, and Raios hoped his brief flash of astonishment had come off as plain confusion. "I need to crack a joke every once in a while to stay sane, you know. Okay then. For the last step, I can connect a bank account or a Pokédex to your card, if you want."

Raios had neither. "No thanks."

The nurse tapped the keyboard with finality. "Alrighty then! Your card will finish printing in a minute or two, as soon as we get your photo." She directed Raios to a small blue screen along the wall, and after a few tries she took a satisfying picture. As the card printed in a nearby machine, the nurse pulled out five Poké Balls from beneath the counter.

"These are free with the card. Here you go," she said as she handed them over. "You know there's a dragon thing going on in Ecruteak City this week?" she added. "It's all about dragons, and there's all sorts of treats waiting there for your big pal." She leaned over the counter. "He's so cute when he yawns like that."

"He'd probably disagree—"

"I do," interjected the dragon—

"—but yeah, that sounds interesting."

"It's worth your while, especially since you've got a Hoenn Pokémon. All the hotshots have over here are those goofy Dragonites. My friend has a Dragonair, and she puts this stone around its neck to keep it from evolving. Oh, your card's ready!"

After she handed Raios his Trainer Card and wished him good luck, he and Salamence headed back outside. The dragon continued to watch the people walking by as if they'd start pelting him with Poké Balls at any moment.

"How long until we reach our destination, at this pace?" he asked.

Raios guessed. "Maybe half an hour. Are your stubby legs up for it?"

"I am slow on foot, but sturdy. I will manage." Salamance yawned, shaking his head. "I am woefully tired, though. Lethargy might be my greatest foe today."

"Did you spend all night getting used to yourself?"

"Yes, all night. And I still don't feel at complete ease."

"Maybe some more walking'll help."

After several minutes of travel, Salamence posed another question. "Do you enjoy being a human?" he asked. "I'm curious—you seemed enthused by that dragon event, even though you know as well as I do that I don't plan to be a dragon at all for that long."

"What do you mean?"

"If you don't mind me saying so, it seems to me that this is more than a mere disguise of yours."

"I guess it is." Raios glanced sideways at his friend. "Don't tell me you're surprised."

Salamence yawned. "I suppose not." He shook his head, as if trying to dispel the fatigue. "It explains why you agreed so readily to be my agent in the human world—you were already planning to pose as a Trainer."

"Not to mention you mean a lot to me," Raios said. "You know I would've helped no matter what."

"Ah. That is likely to be true as well," Salamence said, falling silent.

After an awkward moment Raios added, "I'll be just fine running around with humans. You, on the other hand…"

"I will concede that, so far, no one has antagonized us—"

"You just need to relax," insisted Raios. "I remember you saying once that the only humans you envied were performers. So—perform! Embrace your inner dragon. Or your outer dragon, I guess."

Salamence failed to hide a grin. "…Very well. This _is _an interesting opportunity, when you phrase it in such appealing terms." The dragon became lost in thought for a few minutes, until he suddenly said, "I'm ready. I'll present myself as Salamence—your loyal but inexperienced companion."

"Uneasy around strangers, but very intelligent and capable."

"Yes. This will help me." Salamence started to look around as he walked, observing the city around him as if for the first time. "Just remember to keep your promise concerning those capsules—five of which you now possess."

"Okay."

"And do try to avoid the battling against other people. I take it you understand how I feel about that."

"I don't think you should feel _anything _until you try it out a few times."

Eventually the two of them made it to a large compound circling a bay. The largest of the buildings situated there was called the Marine Training and Care Center, and when they entered Lynn was waiting there in the lobby with a thin red device.

"Good morning, Raios," she said. "Well. Glad to see that you've returned…" She pointedly directed her gaze towards Salamence. "I don't recall you being a dragon tamer, though."

"Meet Salamence," Raios said. "He's my only Pokémon. Salamence, this is Lynn."

The dragon nodded and gave a light bark of acknowledgement. "This must be the woman you mentioned." He kept his distance.

"Impressive," Lynn said, oblivious of Salamence's comment. "Was he in his ball the last time you came?"

"Yeah," went Raios. "He hates staying in there, though."

Lynn nodded. "I've known some Pokémon with such an aversion." The dragon appeared to be averse to _her _as well, and the mistrust disappointed Lynn—but it also charmed her somehow. Wary suspicion caused Salamence's dark blue eyes to lose their sleepy glaze, and when she looked into them a very intelligent creature seemed to gaze back. "I assume someone gave him to you."

"We met when we were both little." Raios stroked Salamence's head, and after a second the dragon returned the gesture with an affectionate nudge.

"It's half of the truth, I suppose," he said with yet another yawn. "You were the little one."

Lynn noticed the yawn. "He seems rather tired."

"He's been a bit off since the storm," Raios said, making things up to carry the conversation. "Not sure why."

"I see." Lynn moved to give Salamence a closer look, but she changed her mind when the dragon took a step back, watching intently. He was somewhat intimidated, ironically enough, and even though Lynn wanted to help she would probably be met with a defensive claw or bite. "I can be his veterinarian later," she said, "but for now, just allow him to nap whenever he feels too tired."

Salamence retreated to Raios's side. "There's no time to waste on sleep right now."

"In any case, feel free to bring Pokémon—most kinds are permitted, if under proper supervision." Lynn flipped open her red device and pointed it at Salamence, who jumped. "Well! He's never seen a Pokédex before."

The device pinged. "Salamence, the Dragon Pokémon," it said through a small speaker. "As a result of its long-held dream of flying, its cellular structure changed, and wings grew out."

Lynn sighed and poked at her Pokédex. "This sounds more like a fairy tale than the documentation of a species. Am I really to believe that an entire species eventually evolves into a winged form because it persistently wishes to fly, and not the other way around?"

"I don't—"

"And why call Salamence the Dragon Pokémon, when dragon is already a type classification? Is Salamence some sort of dragon archetype?" She glanced up at Raios. "Well… as you can see, I found my old Pokédex and updated it. I thought it would provide some useful information about Lugia, but it merely went on about how it sleeps in trenches and causes 40-day storms with one flap of its wings."

"That's ridiculous," muttered Salamence from behind Raios. "That would drive me insane."

"Maybe you need to upgrade the actual thing, too," Raios said. "I think the newest ones have actual encyclopedia entries, instead of short facts."

"Or fiction masquerading as fact," said Lynn, shaking the Pokédex emphatically and stuffing it in her pocket. "Well, needless to say my efforts were fruitless. You know more about Lugia than the Pokédex does." With a swipe of her card key, she led Raios down the same white hallways from yesterday. "By the way, when do you think that other Lugia expert you mentioned yesterday will come by?" she asked.

"Oh," said Raios. "Uh, he went back to Hoenn sooner than I thought. He's given me a few ideas, though."

"Is that where you're from? Hoenn?"

"Yeah. I used to live near Lavaridge Town."

"And now you go around like a Trainer. Well, you're quite far from home. Your family must have some faith in you."

"Maybe…"

"Especially since you're traveling around without so much as a phone!" Lynn glanced back at Raios. "Well, I won't pester you about that." Salamence caught her eyes again, and she added, "With such a strong Pokémon in your possession, I can't believe you don't battle as you travel around."

"Like I said before, we just like watching. But I think Salamence wants to try."

"What?!" said the dragon in a huff. "You know that I would only want to confront wild animals!" He adopted a hurt tone of voice. "I thought you would honor my request, or at least not ignore it completely."

Raios wondered if Salamence really only had moral reasons to forsake battling—he sounded a little scared to try, too. "Trust me," he said with telepathy.

"Well, you could utilize the training center here if you like," Lynn went on. "Its focus is on water, of course, but training is training. You could even spar against me, if I have free time."

"Against you?" Raios said.

"Yes, against me and my Pokémon. I think we could both use the experience."

They stopped in front of the door leading to the young Lugia's pool. Lynn turned around and crossed her arms. "Well, your Salamence seems quite mild-mannered," she said, "but all the same I don't want him in the room with Lugia."

"Why not?" asked Raios as his Pokémon gaped slightly. "He won't do anything."

Salamence whined lowly and nodded in agreement. "I'm Lugia! If only you knew!" he cried. "Raios, my abilities are still weak. I cannot persuade her."

The dragon looked so sincerely heartbroken to be left behind. Lynn met his gaze… and then slowly pushed open the wide door. "Well, fine. He gets to come, but only because he seems so attached… and… ugh, no!" Seeing something amiss in the room, she stopped in her tracks and pulled out a phone, dialing furiously. "He went through with it," she muttered. "Right when we were on the verge of progress…"

Salamence strode in anxiously and gazed at the deserted pool. The dragon let out a weak howl as soon as he realized he would find no trace of his son there. "My storm of misfortune has yet to clear," he murmured. Raios tried to comfort him, but the dragon pushed away and stood alone at the pool's edge.

"Please excuse me for a moment," Lynn said, stepping away to place her call.

"What happened?" asked Raios, getting no response. "Where'd he go?"


	4. Protective Passions

4. Protective Passions

Lynn's phone—or the man's voice on the other end of it—was loud enough for Raios to hear from a few feet away.

"You know as well as I do that Lugia is better off over here," said the voice. "I couldn't convince you to move it, so I convinced your director instead. No hard feelings?"

"Well, he's in no shape to be moved about," Lynn argued. "Especially farther from the sea. I've already told you that I can help him _here_, right on the bay—"

"For goodness' sake, Lynn, you haven't made any progress. You need to get over your selfish attachment to that Pokémon, and stop gambling with its life."

Lynn slapped a hand to her side. "Well, look who's talking about being obsessed! How's your quest to become the most pure-hearted Trainer in the land?"

"That's not even—"

"And I'm not _gambling_. Lugia was stable here—and now he probably isn't. You're the one risking his health."

"What makes you think you can heal it—you, alone? You have already told me that the issue is neurological. You aren't a neurologist—"

"—And you are?"

"—I don't doubt your skills as a marine veterinarian, but now you're dealing with a brain that might be as complex as a human's. Maybe even more. Let's face it… you were out of your league." A loud sigh emanated from the phone. "I know this is… a special encounter for you, but you've done all you can already. And the help of random strangers off the street won't fix things. There are better resources waiting in Ecruteak. You know that. Just let us take care of things."

"…Fine, but I will be calling regularly to hear how he is faring."

"Fair enough. Bye, Lynn."

Lynn closed her phone. "Well …I'm sorry, Raios," she said. "It seems like this situation isn't in our hands anymore." After a quiet second she continued by saying, "I know you heard the conversation—I kept the phone loud on purpose. That was Morty, from Ecruteak City. He thinks I can't take care of Lugia properly. As you can see, he got his way." She sighed. "I would follow Lugia to Ecruteak, but… well, I can't abandon my work here."

"Don't worry," said Raios. "We can go to Ecruteak for you."

"I appreciate the gesture, but if you go, it doesn't have to be for my sake." Lynn shook her head. "Lugia is probably in good hands, if Morty backs off and lets the Kimono Girls do their thing. No, what upsets me is that I was forced… I had to consign Lugia to a fate that isn't in my hands. I had to give him up. Is that selfish of me?"

"No," said Salamence from afar. "I know those feelings… they're the protective passions of a guardian. Of a mother… of a father."

Since the dragon's musings went unheard, Raios began to offer his own encouragement. "It's—"

"Actually, don't answer," said Lynn, busily writing on her clipboard. She tossed it onto the bench with a loud clang and folded her arms. "There's no point."

"I guess our next stop is Ecruteak now," said Raios.

"Well, good luck. I hope you don't mind me staying here—you know the way to the lobby. I need to clear this room, as well as my head…" She gave Raios and his dragon a halfhearted shrug and began to pack up her instruments.

"Bye then," said Raios as he went to the door. Salamence followed, giving Lynn a long passing glance as he shuffled by.

"Farewell," he murmured to the human.

The dragon turned his head around when Lynn immediately responded with her own pensive goodbye. It was actually to Raios, but all the same Salamence felt strangely touched, like he had shared some sort of brief connection, in that room, with the woman. With her apparent solitude and no-nonsense mindset, Salamence saw some of himself in her—and he didn't quite know what it meant. In the end he dismissed the thought, because he felt too tired to ponder what separated him from a human. He realized with a half-smile that above all he wouldn't want to discover that the answer was nothing.

In the lobby, a tall brown-haired girl intercepted Raios before he could reach the door. "Hi—cool dragon," she said. "Would you mind refereeing a little battle between us, in the main pool over there?" She was one of the Trainers that Raios had watched yesterday. "It's one-on-one. This place is deserted half the time, and we would get Dr. Increst to do it but she went inside."

"What do I have to do, exactly?" said Raios as the girl led him along.

"Oh, just call out whenever someone's Pokémon faints. And declare the winners at the end."

"That sounds easy enough." Raios glanced backwards—Salamence was following, but reluctantly.

"Why must we linger here?" he whined. "With every passing minute, we fall farther behind those who spirited my son away."

"The battle shouldn't take that long," answered Raios. "And I want you to get a feel for how it works."

"I'm Annie, by the way," said the girl. "The loser over there's Tyler."

"Do we _really _need a ref?" he said from his end of the pool. "You said no one was gonna watch."

"It's just one guy—and being watched is more incentive for you to win!" Annie called back. She took her place. "I'm ready!"

Tyler groaned. "He looks like an expert. Look at his big dragon."

"Come on, it's not like you're fighting _him_." Annie lobbed a Poké Ball toward the center of the pool. "Show him who he's fighting, Basco!"

"Gotcha," said the Basculin as he entered the water.

His opponent charged right out of his ball. "Raaaaaaaaaaa!" yelled Sharpy, knocking Basco to the side of the pool.

"Yeah! Headbutt!" cheered Tyler.

Salamence sat down in front of Raios and watched the battle with hardly any interest. "I don't believe the actions are supposed to be ordered retroactively," he said. "Am I correct in judging that boy to be an amateur?"

"Yeah," said Raios. "These two Trainers are training together."

"Aqua Jet!" called Annie. Basco obeyed swiftly, charging through the water and spraying the sidelines in the process.

"You missed!" taunted Sharpy from somewhere else in the pool's agitated waters. "Actually, I guess you hit the sidelines dead-on!"

Salamence shook the water from his wings. "This still seems like nothing but a farce, Raios. Why would people dedicate whole careers to trivialized fighting like this?"

"It's all about the relationships," Raios said. He petted Salamence on the head. "Bonding with your Pokémon."

The dragon yawned and moved his head away. "If _this_ is what it takes for humans to bond with something, then I suppose it's necessary."

"There are tons of other ways. This is just the easiest to get started with—you can train and battle as soon as you have a Pokémon."

Salamence sniffed. "I do not like that word. It's so possessive… and objectifying."

"Huh? It's just a word, you know."

"But I'm not a monster! And I would never want to languish in anyone's pocket—"

"HA!" went Sharpy in triumph.

The Sharpedo watched proudly as Basco sailed through the air and landed far from the pool. The red fish flopped fruitlessly for a few frantic seconds before giving up. "Hello?! Fish outta water… over here…"

When Annie put him tenderly back in the pool Sharpy said, "How's that for thinking outside the box? I thought outside the pool!"

"That wasn't fair," pouted the breathless Basculin.

"Well, I think that counts as a victory," said Raios. "The Sharpedo wins!"

"Yes!" Sharpy cheered.

Basco sighed. "For the love of…"

"Very good. _Now _can we leave?" Salamence whined. The match had failed to inspire him, if he had even been paying attention at all. He wasn't even interested in the talking Pokémon.

Raios wanted to get Salamence involved in a battle somehow, but the skeptical dragon was right—they had to get moving. "Well, we've got places to be," Raios said loudly. "So we'll be… going."

"Oh—by all means," said Annie. "Thanks so much for watching! And sorry we splashed you and your dragon." She turned to Tyler, who looked so upbeat now that he had won. "Okay, so there's no more referee—but get ready for a rematch."

Tyler froze in the middle of hugging his Sharpy. "What?!"

Basco voiced similar objections.

* * *

At Salamence's request Raios took a greener road out of town rather than the busier paved streets, and it seemed like they had the out-of-the-way route to themselves. But before they went on, Raios sat by the side of the grassy road and shrugged off his brand new backpack.

"Finally," said Salamence. "If you care at all for our survival, you'll have food in there," he surmised, sniffing at the bag hungrily.

"Yeah, let's eat." Raios unzipped the bag and pulled out a pack of food. "This is what I got from the store. I'm… out of money, so it's all we'll have for a while." He gestured at the backpack, which contained several more plastic cases of food.

But Salamence ignored them and nosed through the bag in search of something else. "No fish?" he said, snout buried in the bag, crestfallen.

"You're not a wild animal, Salamence—you have to eat Pokémon food. Besides, you can't even carry fish around."

Salamence pulled his head from the bag. "That is true. I once attempted to stockpile them for my son, when he was far too young to catch any for himself. I intended to provide a surplus of sustenance, so my young one could grow strong and stay warmer during the winter. But my efforts proved to be futile in the end… and rancid. The rotten fish sickened the both of us, so one day I took him out to hunt fresh ones. He loved watching me barrel through the water snapping up prey, so I repeated the trip day after day, sharing some of my catch with him. He quickly began to mimic my motions, lunging after fish and even pretending to conjure whirlpools. And when he caught his first fish… I remember how it protruded halfway from his mouth, and nearly escaped. As I embraced him… he gave it to me. He said he wished to… pay back each of the many fish I caught for him…"

"I can't wait to meet your son. He sounds well-raised." Raios saw Salamence's mood about to plummet like a boulder off a cliff, so he brought the dragon's attention back to food. "Anyways, fish has to be fresh," he said. "This stuff, on the other hand, lasts a long time." He tore open the food pack in his hands. "Here, try some."

Salamence came forward and sniffed the offering, but gave Raios a pleading look. "This looks so… unappetizing!" he protested. "Colorful, but clearly artificial. Processed and quite far removed from the original ingredients. Surely you procured something else I can eat?"

"Not every man-made spherical object is trying to enslave you for life, Salamence," Raios teased. He took one of the food balls and put it in his mouth. It tasted a lot like rice… which probably meant nothing to the fish-eater. "See? It's not fresh like you're used to, but that doesn't mean it's bad."

Salamence sniffed again. "My only consolation is that starvation would be the greater discomfort…"

"You like to blow things out of proportion, don't you?"

"Fine, I concede! Just let me eat in a dignified manner."

Raios pulled a large, plastic food bowl from the bag and emptied most of the food pack into it. "I hope you consider a bowl dignified," he said. As Salamence ate—slowly, as if taking care not to show any enthusiasm—Raios relaxed and finished the pack of Poké food. He felt vaguely eccentric in doing so, but he didn't mind because he felt a bit hungry himself. He glanced up and down the route, finding nobody around to take issue with his non-human diet.

A sharp tearing sound drew Raios's attention away from the empty road. He turned to see Salamence helping himself to a second case of food. "Haha. We should make those last, you know. But I'm glad you like them."

"I'm just hungry," murmured Salamence. "In my early clumsiness I only managed to catch one fish this morning." When he finished eating, he sat back and stared down at the mangled wrapper he left behind. "I—"

"Don't worry about it," Raios said, tossing the wrappers and bowl into the backpack. He stood up. "Let's just hit the road."

Salamence licked his mouth and followed his Trainer. "Playing the roles of Lugia and Salamence at the same time is quite challenging," he said.

Raios gave his friend a long look and decided that the word Lugia no longer applied to him. "Forget about Lugia." When Salamence grunted in surprise he added, "I'm serious. You can turn back into Lugia we reach your son or something, right? Until then, you're nothing but Salamence."

"But I still have the mind of Lugia," sighed the dragon. "If only I could hypnotize myself into my new role."

"I don't think you don't need that. The longer you pretend, the less it's pretending."

Salamence nodded and followed behind Raios, lost in thought. "I will try to forget myself," he murmured, "but I will never forget my son."


	5. Heritage and Identity

5. Heritage and Identity

An immense, saber-toothed figure crouched in the shadows.

"I finally gotcha now, you lunatic," he murmured to himself. "You've been chasing me for years… and it only took me a week to hunt you down. Raikou one, crazy purple maniac… zero." He watched as the eccentric-looking man half-limped away from his semi-trailer into the rest stop.

Raikou surveyed the rest of the deserted parking lot. "What's with these floodlights?" he said under his breath. "It's not like anyone comes here anyway. What a waste of electricity." He stepped out of the shadows onto the concrete, making for the trailer of the unattended semi.

"Now how do I open this thing? Carefully?" After a quick examination, Raikou pawed at a lever on the trailer's rear door, turning it ninety degrees with a resounding clang. "So far, so good."

Raikou peered around the trailer at the rest stop—the man in purple was still out of sight. "Bless his bowels," Raikou said. "I might still have a few minutes." He wedged his claws into a small metal handle at the bottom of the trailer's door and pushed up, rearing on his hind legs. The door rattled upwards, making deafening noise as it slid half open.

"Okay, Entei!" Raikou said triumphantly as he jumped up into the trailer. "I just outsmarted the pinnacle of human security technology to rescue… wait, what?"

Near the front of the trailer slumped a figure that was decidedly not Entei. Raikou sniffed the creature's white and purple tail, catching a faint salty whiff of the sea. "I don't get it," he murmured. "Why would Purple Pants have _you_?" He nudged the unconscious figure. "Lugia? Is that you? Well, it's obviously you, but—there's always a chance I'm hallucinating or dreaming or some—"

One of the semi's doors opened and shut. Raikou's instincts immediately urged him to flee as fast as he could, but he hesitated out of concern for Lugia, who hadn't stirred at all. "You seem… smaller than you're supposed to be," Raikou whispered. "Unless I'm tripping like crazy. Sometimes I don't think straight when I'm panicking. Either way, I can't carry you outta here. You're too big. Just saying. Oh, and you're strapped in. Wait…" Raikou growled faintly. "Are these bandages and casts?! Is he… did he hurt you?" Raikou groaned, frozen in place. "This is sucking more by the minute—what do I do now?"

The semi seemed to answer by starting its engine. Raikou yelped—he really, _really_ wanted to run away. "I can't help it!" he cried quietly, gazing out the back of the trailer. "I have to… close this thing." If he couldn't see the outside, he'd be less likely to bail out. Or fall out.

He went to push on the door's inside handle, but as he moved the semi lurched forward from its parking space. In a few moments the road outside would be passing by at a dangerously fast pace. Raikou could run fast… but without a running start, jumping out of the trailer would bruise him up pretty badly. And then he'd be ditching Lugia.

"Don't look don't look don't look don't look—" went Raikou as he reached for the handle. "Yow!" The door rattled closed, and when Raikou opened his eyes he found himself in near-complete darkness.

"Phew… nothing a little night vision won't fix," he said, calming himself down. He sat by Lugia's tail, and the motions of the semi on the road gently jostled the two of them. "But… what did I get myself into? What's he doing to you, Lugia?" A bunch of crazy ideas went through Raikou's head. "He could've shrunk you, for some reason… or maybe you're Lugia from the past… or maybe he's testing some sorta age-reversing technology on you." Raikou shook his head. "It could be anything. Although I hope he's shrinking you right now! Then you'd eventually be small enough to carry outta here. I dunno how I'd reverse the process, but worst case is you'd be a really cute micro-Lugia… and that isn't so bad when you think about it. More like adorable."

After a minute or so, he could make out Lugia in the darkness. The sea guardian wasn't getting any smaller. "You put up a good fight, huh?" Raikou asked him quietly. He could see the wounds again, and the ones not covered up looked at least a few days old. "Why did he catch you anyway? He's supposed to be obsessed with _us_!" Raikou felt indignant, to his own surprise. "I'll make him pay for chasing you instead of me. He hurt you bad, if you can't even wake up."

Since his many questions wouldn't be receiving any answers from the sleeper anytime soon, Raikou resigned himself to a nap, lying by Lugia's tail. He'd figure everything out eventually… but not in the dark, at sixty miles an hour.

* * *

Salamence stared at his body, arching his neck to get a good look.

He had suddenly found it hard to move, and now he discovered why—the rear half of his body had swollen to a massive size, turning white and purple and growing out feathers. That half of his body felt impossibly heavy, and all Salamence could do was struggle to pull himself forward.

He blinked, and a small Lugia appeared before him.

"My son!" Salamence cried. "There you are! I have been searching for you! Come to me…"

"Hi, Dad," said the young Lugia. He didn't move. "I'm glad you're happy to see me… but…" He frowned and pointed at his father with one wing. "What've you done to yourself? You're half Lugia… and half… that…"

"I was… looking for you," gasped Salamence. He had been trying to claw his way forward, with no luck. "I had to do this. It is only a disguise."

"I don't believe you," said his son. "You gave up being Lugia. You gave up on me, and you gave up on our heritage. Am I supposed to follow in your wake now? What is my identity now that you've destroyed it?" He trembled, and his feathers rustled and fell from his body. The down that Salamence longed to feel again blew away like leaves from a tree, leaving behind a small Salamence. "Is this what you want?" he said, baring his teeth.

"No, I…"

His image flashed, and now he had the appearance of a Latios. "Is this what you want?!"

"No!"

Salamence heard a sharp cackle, and when he looked again his son had taken the form of Ho-Oh. "Pitiful," the bird said in a very mature voice, before flying into the air, away from his deformed father.

"Wait! No!" Salamence roared. He flapped his wings to give chase, but the Lugia half of his body anchored him to the ground. "Stay with me! Don't go!" he sobbed, watching the shining rainbow figure disappear into the sky forever. "I'm so sorry for—"

"Hey—this is a dream!" yelled Raios suddenly from somewhere. "You're having a nightmare!"

"A dream?!" Salamence looked around frantically. "Raios! Where are you?"

"I don't really want to come in there," Raios said. "It's too unstable. I could end up as anything."

"Raios," Salamence said, still teary-eyed. "I believe I have overslept long enough. Please wake me at once!"

Raios's presence in the dream faded away, and a moment later Salamence felt a sharp plunge—a brief dropping sensation jolted him awake. The dragon groaned, squinting at the late morning sun. "Is that… really how you wake others?" he asked, getting to his feet.

"Yeah, a shock makes it easier by a mile," Raios said, sitting up several feet away. "Sorry."

"I wonder what meaning that nightmare had… or if it was nonsense."

Raios scratched his head. "Only you could possibly tell, I guess. I wouldn't focus on any meanings."

"When did you come in?" Salamence asked, turning to his friend.

"While I was finishing breakfast, I saw you tossing pretty hard in your sleep. And when I checked your mind, I felt tons of distress—exactly like you were having a nightmare. So I peeked into the dream, and you were all weirdly half-transformed and crying for a bird in the sky."

"Yes." Salamence sighed. Raios hadn't recognized the actual situation involving his son, to his relief. "It must be but an inconsequential dream, I hope…"

"Right after learning to transform, I had several dreams where my form was altered in some way," Raios said. "I think it's some sort of mind-body dissonance. It's just made-up dream stuff—don't worry about it too much."

"But…" the dragon murmured. He felt ashamed to mention his son's role in the dream, and so he didn't. The sooner he stopped talking and thinking about it, the sooner his unreasonable feelings of shame and guilt would pass. "It felt so palpable, I suppose. It's difficult not to treat such experiences as genuine and meaningful." He shook his head, as if to dispel the unwanted emotions hanging around him.

"Well said," went Raios. "Let's talk about the real world, then! I bet it feels great to be well-rested after all those sleepless nights."

Salamence nodded. "It does! After rising from sleep in this body, it feels as right as my true one." He approached Raios. "I can always count on you to be the optimist."

"Thanks, I guess. Don't worry about it." Raios reached for his bag. "Now that you're up… I bet you're hungry."

Raios offered Salamence two packs of food, emptying their contents into his bowl. The dragon still refused to openly enjoy the food, but he nevertheless wolfed breakfast down in record time. Raios opened a second pocket of his bag and produced some water bottles—after sharing a long drink, the two of them stretched and began walking the route again. Salamence no longer had a dim, tired look, but he seemed troubled by something—the dream, no doubt.

"Hey, Salamence?" Raios said.

"Yes, friend?"

Raios remembered a question from yesterday he'd been meaning to ask, and he was eager to give Salamence something else to think about. "Yesterday… when Lynn was about to keep you outside that room, what did you say about your powers?"

"My psychic powers?" Salamence hung his head. "I said they were still weak, but now I realize I never told you in the first place. My current theory is that I must be Lugia in order to retain my psychic abilities in full… but I am only Salamence. I do not know if they will return to me with time."

"That's weird," Raios said. "I can transform, and I'm still psychic."

Salamence shifted his eyes. "I know."

"Anyways, that's not what I'm worried about. You can probably find your powers again, after some meditation or something. Do you do that?"

"Meditation… I suppose I occasionally do something, at the bottom of the sea, that could be called that," shrugged the dragon. "At any rate, what _are _you worried about?"

"Well… you said something about persuading Lynn. And I know what you meant by 'persuade.'"

"Oh, Raios… I was only caught in the moment. I was perfectly safe to let into that room—you knew it, and it would have only taken a slight mental nudge to make the human know it too. I know you find even the slightest invasion of another's mind reprehensible, but… I would have been able to get in without compromising my disguise. And my son…"

Raios reassured his friend. "I get it. You didn't mean any harm."

"Thank you."

"Still… it's a good thing you got to her just by looking real sad."

"I almost long to be ferocious for a change. I am a fully-grown dragon, after all," Salamence said, raking his foot along the ground as he walked and looking at the claw marks it left behind. "I find it odd that no one seems to be afraid of my size, or of my sharp claws and teeth. I just look sad to people, or amusingly cautious… or even _cute_."

"When you're so close to a human, other people know you're tamed, I guess," Raios said. "There are other Pokémon way bigger than you that people still aren't afraid of. Besides, I think it's good that you're not scary—you're not a scary person. People can admire you for being powerful and nice at the same time." Raios patted Salamence on the shoulder. "But if you really want to growl and roar at stuff ferociously, maybe you should try a battle!"

Salamence tilted his head. "I… A battle? I'm not quite…" He looked up. "Someone is coming."

"Excuse me! Trainer!" called a young woman running up to Raios in a panic. She had a fairly rugged appearance, with short black hair and clothes fit for camping. "I need your help!" she said. "You seem like a strong Trainer. You can help me, right?"

"What do you mean?" asked Raios. "What's going on?"

"Okay." She calmed herself down. "My name's Latias. I am the guardian of a lake in the woods over there—it's my life. But these thugs are trashing it up! I can't fight them off—they have some dark-type Pokémon—"

"Hold on!" Raios interrupted. "You're a Latias?!"

"Yes," she said. "But don't get hung up on that! My lake is in trouble—let's go!"

"Okay, just lead the way."

"One moment!" said Salamence as he followed Latias and Raios into the woods. "Raios, can you verify that she's a Latias?"

"What do you mean?" said Raios telepathically.

"As a psychic, I can readily notice your mind. It stands out, because I can detect your psychic capacity. Can you do the same for her? Because I cannot."

"Maybe she's hiding it."

"From even me?"

"It could be because your psychic powers are gone. And what's your point, anyways?"

"What are the odds of meeting a true Latias here, on the road in Johto?"

Raios refused to consider. "Well, you tell me—what're the odds of meeting a Latios?"

"You know that's no argument." Salamence groaned. "Please heed me, Raios—this is much more likely to be a ruse than anything legitimate!"

They marched briskly through the trees. Latias glanced behind her occasionally. "We're almost there!" she said after a while. "Thank you for helping… I'll have to find a way to reward you somehow."

"Don't worry about it," offered Raios.

Salamence growled. "Raios, think logically!" But the dragon was ignored.

It only took them a few more minutes to reach a pristine lake in the middle of the woods. Raios approved of Latias's guardianship—the woods thinned out, and the purity of the water and the vibrance of the surrounding fauna gave the lake a surreal quality, as if Raios had stepped into a painting. To complete the picture, a wooden boat with oars bobbed on the water nearby, tied up but ready to carry people across.

"Wow," said Raios. "This is beautiful."

Salamence desperately pulled Raios back by his shirt. "Seconded—it's perfect. And that is the problem!"

"Come on, Salamence," Raios said aloud, freeing his shirt. But the dragon had a point. "Where'd the thugs go, Latias?"

"Behind you," answered a surly voice. "I'll get 'em from here." The bandit shoved Raios to the ground from behind. "It's simple—gimme everything you got, and you can go."

Raios jumped up and stood by Salamence. "Latias!" he cried. The young woman was nowhere to be found.

"Hahaha! You should see the dumb look on your face." The bandit drew close—but Salamence growled and bared his teeth. "Oy, don't think you can sic your big ol' drake on me! I'll just make him mine! Probably the most valuable thing you've got, that's for sure."

He made a show of powering on some sort of machine strapped to his arm. The shine of its metal had long since faded, but judging by the way its lights glowed it was still functional. It went from his shoulder all the way to his hand, and he clutched a Poké Ball with it, charging it up—

"No!" Salamence howled and jumped back, dragging Raios with him—

The ball spun excitedly in the machine's grasp. Before his victims could escape, the bandit reached back for a throw, and with a glowing burst of light… pelted Salamence in the head. The nonfunctional sphere fell to the ground and rolled into the roots of a tree.

"AAH!" bellowed Salamence. He shook his head back and forth. "The pain! I… is that it?"

"Let's go!" urged Raios. He clambered onto Salamence's back. "J-just fly!"

"It didn't work?!" roared the thug from below. "This beaten foreign device must've finally given out… damn, and that would've been a good catch." He powered down the device. "I've always wanted a drake." He seemed to know that it would be impossible to catch Raios without stealing his Pokémon first, and after gazing up at the two for a moment he ducked back under the trees and disappeared.

"That should be enough distance," panted Salamence. "My wings are tired… you feel so heavy." He beat his wings with increasing exhaustion, staying high enough to make Raios regret taking a flightless form. The woods stretched out below them like an overgrown carpet, and a fall from that height would be fatal.

"Did you have to fly this high?!" Raios cried, fear apparent in his telepathic voice. "…I think we need to go back down there and look for Latias! We can fight that guy—his Pokémon-stealing thing doesn't work! I don't even think he has any—"

"Do you not understand what just transpired? 'Latias' led us into a trap!" Salamence spotted the road from his high vantage point, and started to fly in that direction. "If not for some mechanical malfunction I would be captured, and you would be penniless and alone in the woods."

"I'm already penniless," Raios pointed out, "but… I guess you're right…"

"What came over you, Raios? I tried to stop you, but… I let you remain in control of the situation. I should not have done so."

Raios said nothing. He held tighter around Salamence's neck.

"It is clear that, as soon as you heard her name herself as Latias, you would not stop," continued the dragon in a gentler tone. "Does this have to do with…"

"I don't want to talk about this right now," murmured Raios.

"Of course you don't. But we must." Salamence descended to the side of the road and touched down heavily. He kept walking, with Raios still on his back. "You endangered us. I want to understand why. You have yet to tell me of your travels after leaving—"

"I just wanted to help out, okay?" Raios sighed. "And… if there was even a small chance she really was a Latias…"

Salamence paused. "…I understand now. Hope has a penchant for defeating reason. You hoped to meet another like you, as you have been doing."

"I don't think you understand," Raios said quietly. "I _haven't_ been doing that. I haven't met… _any_ Latios or Latias."

"Never? But… surely you reunited with your family?"

Raios grew very quiet on Salamence's back. They moved on in silence—Salamence knew better than to ask more questions. He was too solitary in nature to really fathom his friend's loneliness; he could only imagine how lost Raios felt without his heritage and identity to guide him. He had been separated from his family at such a young age that he probably only knew meager scraps of what it meant to be who he was. Salamence wished he could do something—but Raios had kept it secret. He had never come back for help.

"I… I just realized I don't have my bag," Raios said after a long while. "I must've dropped it in the woods. There wasn't much in there… but it had all our food and water."

Salamence had never seen his friend so shaken up. "I'm not hungry," he lied. "We will find a way to survive, friend."

"…I miss flight."

"We can fly in a short while. My wings just need some rest at this moment. It'll be considerably more relaxed when we—"

"Thanks, but riding someone's not the same as flying yourself." Raios sighed. "Sorry… I just feel in the dumps now. Bent way out of shape. And I only know half the reason why."

So it was a rather trying morning for them both. Salamence longed to encourage his friend with some word of comfort, but bothering Raios now would only prolong the despondency. Raios would open up eventually, Salamence knew that—but until then the dragon would walk on, saying nothing, taking in the sights and sounds along the road and giving his friend peace.


	6. New to Battling

6. New to Battling

After half an hour of walking, the dirt road left the woods behind and ran through green, grassy, overgrown fields. They would turn into farmland farther ahead, but until then the road served as the only clear path through a sea of tall grass. And like a sea of water, the grass slowly waved back and forth in the wind, concealing its depths. The similarity captured Salamence's attention, and for a while he stared to the side as he walked, sniffing the air—until Raios slid from his back, stumbling to the ground and kicking up dust.

"I figure I shouldn't make you carry me the whole way there," he said, walking next to Salamence. He was done thinking about himself, and he wanted to chat about something. "You don't like it, do you?"

"No—I mean yes…" Salamence took a moment to think before speaking. "I wouldn't like carrying any other human. But you are my friend, and we understand each other, so what would have been humiliating obedience is simply one companion supporting another. It does not bother me in the slightest."

"Oh. That sounds a lot like words from a loyal Pokémon, you know!"

"Well, if we are going by definition, then I am certainly loyal to you… and I suppose I am one of those."

Raios wondered why the dragon still refused to say "Pokémon" like it was some sort of curse. He hoped to change that eventually. "So, how do you feel about your second day as a Pokémon, Salamence?"

"…I suppose I feel well. I am fully accustomed to this body, as if it had been mine for many years. All I must improve now is my wing strength." The dragon raised his head into the wind. "Hmm, I must mention… that my sense of smell is much keener. I can smell the scent of the grass as it wafts by. It is nothing like the sea, which invariably smells and tastes like salt. And this other odor that follows me everywhere—it's yours." He hastened to add, "It's not a foul one. I can only describe it as earthy… but that may just be because you've fallen in the dirt a few times today."

"Oh. Okay… that's better than having a stench, I guess," Raios said, giving himself a discreet sniff. "Hey, but are any of your senses duller? My eyesight as a human is way worse."

"Hearing, maybe. But the difference is slight."

"That's good, at least."

Salamence's thoughts drifted to his sense of taste, and inevitably he felt the pangs of hunger. He hesitated to ask Raios about food—Raios was fairly cheerful, and the last thing the dragon wanted was for him to fall into a lousy mood again for having lost their supplies. But Salamence felt something other than hunger, something more urgent… it came with dryness in the mouth, and a lust for moisture. The feeling had been growing all day, and the day before, but now it was unbearable and Salamence had to say something before it drove him crazy.

"Raios," he murmured, confused. "I believe I may be thirsty."

"I didn't know anyone could be so uncertain about something like that," Raios said.

"You know I lived in the sea," Salamence said. "Sea creatures do not feel thirst, since water surrounds them always. Grr, this… this _need_ for water! It's rather unpleasant."

After a moment Raios said, "Now that I think about it, I never gave you any. It's weird you took this long to feel thirsty—you need water even more than you need food."

"How curious. What if transformation disrupts the metabolism somehow?" Salamence asked. "I don't suppose you know much about that?"

"Not really. I've experimented a bit with changing forms, but there's a lot I don't understand. Like… how you'll only have one appearance for any given form. You can't just change your face, or scale color, or anything like that. And you can't make up new forms, either. I guess that stuff's what makes it different from shapeshifting."

"What of my size-changing, then?" Salamence asked. "That seems like neither—"

"Screeee!"

A large brown bird darted from the grass, letting out another cry. "Scree!" It flew right at Raios, who threw up his arms to protect his face from the sharp talons.

"Salamence!" Raios yelled, ducking to the ground.

The dragon drew one arm back to swipe at the bird, but he could easily miss and gouge Raios instead. "Brace yourself!" he urged, rearing on his hind legs and flapping his wings hard. The gusts of wind he produced buffeted Raios and the bird and kicked up tons of dust, but soon the wild attacker detached and blew a few feet down the road.

"Now!" Raios cried. "Use… uh, attack it!"

Salamence charged forward, slashing at the bird with his claws. The bird flapped back evasively, causing Salamence to stumble with each miss, but he never relented, and on the fourth attempt Salamence landed a hit and knocked the flying-type down.

"Yes!" Raios said. He shoved a hand in his pocket and pulled out a Poké Ball. "Whew, good thing I didn't put them—"

Salamence barked, getting out of the way. "If you're planning to capture it, make haste!"

"Right!" Raios took aim at the slumped bird about twenty feet away… and lobbed the small sphere in its direction. The ball sailed over and missed, rolling a ways down the road. "It's harder than it looks!" Raios cried. "I've never thrown with my hands before!" He pulled out another ball, pushing its gray button by accident. The ball clicked and grew larger, to the size of an orange. "Oh!" Raios gasped. "I get it now—"

"It's fleeing!" Salamence growled. He wanted to give chase, but if Raios threw another ball and it hit him…

The bird scrambled to flap its wings—

"I got it!" Raios said, pitching the ball—

And it hit the bird in the side—the ball clicked open, enveloping the Pokémon in a white light that shone even in the midday sun. "SCREEEE!" it cried as the light consumed it and withdrew into the Poké Ball.

The ball snapped shut and fell to the ground, shaking.

Raios jumped forward and picked up the ball. "I did it!" he said, breathless. "I caught a… well, it's a bird—"

The Poké Ball burst open in another flash of light, blinding Raios and making his ears ring. He braced himself for another flurry of talon scratches, but when he felt nothing he stole a glance and saw the bird flying away.

"No! So close!" Raios sighed. "I think."

Salamence watched as the bird became a brown dot in the sky, and then turned to his friend. "To give chase would be to stray far off track." He pawed the burst remains of the spent Poké Ball. "That was… exciting."

"I bet little kids know more about catching than I do," Raios said, picking up the first ball he threw. "We need to practice this more."

"As long as you refrain from practicing on me… I agree," Salamence said. "I'm eager to try again." The wild encounter had made it clear that Salamence only knew awkward rudimentary attacks in his new form, so he looked forward to training and exploring whatever abilities his body possessed.

He caught a scent on the wind. "Here comes another interloper," he said, looking at the road ahead. A human was walking their way, and to Salamence's surprise the young man smelled incredibly like the bird from before. "Let us hope that _this_ traveler isn't looking to deceive."

"Hi there!" greeted the blue-haired young man as he drew close. He looked at Salamence, appreciating some quality of him, before resting his gaze on Raios. "Might I be able to help with anything? In my experience, people only look so dusty after a tough fight. And I heard plenty of yelling."

"Oh," Raios said, brushing himself off quickly. "It was just a wild Pokémon."

"That was my first guess." The traveler glanced back at Salamence. "What kind of Pokémon?"

"I don't know. I'm not from around here—it was a brown bird with these red trails on its head."

"Ah!" The young man put a hand to his mouth and let out a piercing whistle. Salamence visibly tensed up, watching the stranger intensely. "I love your flying dragon," the traveler admitted. "He commands a power that bird Pokémon, unfortunately, are too graceful to bear. And despite that… he seems gentle, only roused to fight when he senses danger." He threw up his hands. "I'm no threat, by the way!"

A large Pokémon flew in from above, landing beside him. "You called?" the bird said to his Trainer, the long red and yellow feathers of his crest trailing back in the wind. "Trouble?"

Raios nudged Salamence, who stopped staring and said, "We fought a wild animal much like you several minutes ago."

"Um… congratulations?" the bird said, leering at Salamence. "As proud as I am to be a Pidgeot, I'm not about to be called down every time someone beats up one of my kind. Unless you caught it—then I'd like to see."

"No… it got away."

"Aw. Tough luck." The Pidgeot folded his wings. "You know what they say—you can't catch 'em all."

"This is Pidgeot, my longtime companion," said the blue-haired guy. "He loves to survey from the sky, but I can call him down whenever I need him. Does he look like the Pokémon you fought?"

"Yeah." Raios saw the resemblance immediately, but Pidgeot was an even larger bird than the one he had tangled with. "Unless he's really big for his species, I think we fought his lower evolution."

"Huh?" said Pidgeot, looking at Salamence with more interest. Or maybe it was disbelief. "You couldn't take down a Pidgeotto?"

"Don't collapse in shock," said Salamence dryly, "but I'm new to battling."

"Oh!" the bird cried. "Why didn't you say so sooner? Here I was, thinking you were some badass fighter! Most fully-evolved dragon-types are, I thought." Pidgeot bowed. "If you need anything, just ask—I help out newbie Pokémon all the time. It's pretty much my job. You're even a flying-type probably, so we can do some airborne training too. Except not right now… Falky and I are on a road trip."

Pidgeot's human nodded to Raios. "A Pidgeotto, then… huh. Look—I hope this isn't insulting to you, but are you just starting on your Pokémon journey? Just starting… with a Salamence in tow?"

"Yeah, I guess—"

"Then I challenge you to a battle!" the Trainer said, pointing a finger dramatically.

Raios and Salamence gaped in unison. "What?!"

Pidgeot shrugged. "He's been doing that lately. If you mean the pointing."

"Right here, and right now," the Trainer said. "I can tell that that Salamence is your only Pokémon, so this will be a very simple battle. One on one—Pidgeot versus your dragon."

The bird already seemed to be sizing up his opponent-to-be. "Raios," Salamence whispered. "I'm not too sure about this… I only know how to claw and bite."

Raios responded telepathically. "There's only one way to learn stuff, and this is how. You can't learn strategy from fighting a wild Pokémon. Let's do it!"

"Hey, this is a golden opportunity," Pidgeot noted. "I don't think you'll find anyone at your skill level willing to fight a Salamence!"

"That may be so," Salamence said to the bird, "but you're surely above my skill level to begin with."

"Don't be so quick to discount yourself!"

"Let's do it," Raios said aloud.

"This'll be fun, I'm sure of it," said the blue-haired Trainer. "Let's just move down there, where the farmland begins. Away from this tall grass—I don't want some wild Pokémon to steal the win from either of us!"

* * *

"I could give many things for a drink of water right now," Salamence said from his position on the field.

"Falky has plenty of water!" Pidgeot called from fifty feet away. "I can grab some for you after this if you want!"

"That would be most generous of you," the dragon called back.

"Okay!" said Pidgeot's Trainer. "One on one! Pidgeot versus Salamence! Ready?"

Pidgeot flexed his wings. "Yeah! I'm pumped! Get ready for something way tougher than a Pidgeotto!"

Salamence said nothing, watching his opponent and waiting for the match to begin.

Raios fought to keep still. He wasn't the one running around battling, after all. "Ready!" he said, hoping his yelling during the battle would be enough to let out his excitement.

"Begin!" the Trainer announced, and Pidgeot immediately took flight.

"I've always wondered how flight is possible for heavier Pokémon like you," Pidgeot said. "I mean, it's hard enough for me to carry Falky around."

Salamence refused to talk, focusing on the battle at hand instead. If he shot an energy-based attack, he could bring Pidgeot down without flying and exhausting himself. But… his psychic, aquatic, and atmospheric powers no longer belonged to him—and he had no clue what abilities remained. If he tried to launch an aeroblast, who knows what would happen? Probably nothing at all.

"What's the matter?" called Pidgeot from above, concerned. "C'mon! You can do it!"

"Argh! I don't need encouragement from my opponent!" Salamence growled, beating his wings and lifting from the ground. He could only assume that physical strength was his new forte, and so he chased Pidgeot with the intent to swat the bird from the air.

"Oh snap," said Pidgeot.

His Trainer saw Salamence closing in, and issued a command. "Use Double Team and wear him out!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Pidgeot darted away, and in a stunning feat of agility multiple copies of him appeared in the air. They formed in a ring, catching Salamence in the middle.

Salamence hovered, unsure how to attack. "Wh-what? Illusions?!"

"That's right," the copies said together. "Since it's easier to avoid it in the air, I've been trying to make it a sphere instead of a circle… but that's way too complicated. You just can't turn like that when you're going this fast."

"Flamethrower!" Raios called from below. "Use that to force him out!"

"I was never… even aware that I could… conjure fire until now!" Salamence protested between labored breaths. He opened his mouth, and mustered his strength… but his maw produced nothing. In fact, the effort—combined with the exertion of flight—made Salamence feel a bit queasy. "It… is beyond me, it seems."

Raios's opponent pointed. "And now—Air Slash!"

The many images of Pidgeot blinked from sight for a split second, and in that brief moment Salamence felt sharp pain drive across his back—"AAGH!" He writhed briefly, and then focused on staying airborne—the hurt spiked with every wingbeat, and so did his exhaustion. He steadied himself and tried to launch another attack from his mouth, but gagged instead.

"Aah! Don't do that, Salamence!" Raios called. He regretted blurting out such a high-level move. "Come back down!"

"Can you believe that attack's just air?" the talkative Pidgeot said, still maintaining his illusory copies. "A slash of really compressed air. It stings like hell, I know." He had only a hint of weariness in his voice, but after a moment he stopped his Double Team and watched Salamence lurch to the ground. "Wait, are you seriously… beat up already?"

"Are you okay?" he said from his end of the field. He wished he could run up to his Pokémon and steady him. "How much does it hurt?"

Salamence only groaned.

"You need to shoot him! You can't catch him with your claws or anything like that!" Raios felt hurt himself to see Salamence suffering, because in a way he deserved at least some of the dragon's pain. "Salamence? Are you okay?!"

The dragon trembled, and then threw his head upwards. "ROOAAAARRR!" he bellowed, opening his mouth wide. His sheer ferocity stirred a power—he had a power!—within him, and he felt it intensify quickly. Pidgeot saw something, crying out in panic, and soon Salamence saw it himself—a white light spread from his gaping mouth, as if he had swallowed a dazzling lamp. The energy was exhilarating, but Salamence could only hold on for moments longer before it overwhelmed him.

"Yes!" Raios cheered. He actually knew the move Salamence was about to unleash! "Okay—don't go out of control on me now, Salamence! Listen to me for the command!"

"I am so screwed if that hits," Pidgeot said, putting some distance between the dragon and himself. When his Trainer ordered him to swoop behind the dragon and attack, he froze. "What? Get closer?! Do you even _see _what's charging up in his—"

"Now—Hyper Beam!" Raios cried.

Salamence's endurance gave out, and everything suddenly went by in a rush. Salamence roared—he made no sound, other than a warm hum—bright light—someone screeched, others yelled—and Salamence collapsed to the ground, blacking out.

* * *

"Ugh… grr…"

Salamence stirred awake, groaning and feeling battered. With no will to get up, he rested, and after a minute he could remember what happened. He played back the battle in his head, and he sighed—he had put up a good fight, but… in the end, he took himself down. How foolish, he thought, to try such a powerful attack with no experience! He was too dazed to get worked up about his defeat, but it still disappointed him greatly. He had to rebuild his control over energy attacks, or else those moves would continue to knock him out…

"Salamence," Raios said gently, sitting on the grass next to him. "I'm so glad you're awake. I was starting to get worried."

"Worried? What… why?"

Raios inched closer. "You must be a bit hazy. I was just worried because you've been out cold all day. You still look pretty out of it."

Salamence dully took notice of the darkened sky outside. "…I see. Where are we… now?"

"Just outside of Ecruteak City."

"We'll win next time…" Salamence said. "I should feel better tomorrow, and then I'll…"

Raios touched Salamence's side. "Shh. That Hyper Beam really took the life out of you. And we didn't lose—let me tell you what happened." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small metal badge. Its hexagonal shape featured one cut to the center, and the resulting U shape bore a simple wing design. "It turns out that that blue-haired guy was the first Gym Leader in Johto. His name is Falkner… and even though he was on the road, he decided to give me his badge for beating him. He said I deserved to have at least the starting badge if I was going to walk around with a Salamence like you." It was probably Falkner's duty to spur new Trainers on, no matter what.

With every slow breath, Salamence felt an ounce of strength return. "Generous, but… how did I win? I was the one who fainted."

"You hit his Pidgeot, and basically you both passed out at the same time. It could've been a tie, but Falkner gave us the win." Raios sighed. "Look, if you don't want to battle now, I'm totally fine with it. We've tried a wild one and one with a Trainer, and… it's tougher than I thought. I won't make you."

"No, no, friend… despite everything, I feel more motivated than ever to participate." Salamence shook his head. "I will not stand to be this weak for a moment longer. I… I must train."

Raios couldn't believe his ears. "In that case, I hope this doesn't upset you too much…"

"I am currently in no shape to be getting upset, friend."

"Still…" Raios held out a Poké Ball, in its shrunken form. "I used another Poké Ball, so now I only have three empty ones left. And…"

"Did you succeed this time?"

"Yeah, but—"

"Then I have no reason to be upset about anything… I congratulate you, in fact." Salamence peered at the ball. "What did you catch?"

"Just let me finish!" Raios sighed and lowered his voice. "It's you, Salamence… I wanted to keep moving, and you were beat, so I had to capture you. I did it as soon as Falkner left. This is your ball—"

Salamence cried out and looked away.

"I didn't know what to do! I'm sorry!"

After a tense silence, Salamence turned back. "No, please excuse my reaction. You knew that I wouldn't have wanted to linger, so… if that was the only way to transport me, I must thank you for that." He tried to mourn the loss of his freedom, but Salamence didn't actually _feel_ different at all. Contrary to his expectations, he felt no bending of the will and no servile change of heart. There was no loss at all, he realized. "I can say little about this… I feel much the same, in all truth."

"That's good. I won't put you in the ball again unless you want it. Oh, and I have something I think you really need right now." Raios produced a huge plastic water bottle, unscrewing the lid. "Dragon-sized, isn't it? I got it from Falkner. Open wide…"

Salamence refused to be treated like a child. "Thank you, but I will water myself." His thirst returned in full and he gazed at the bottle, enamored, dying for Raios to hand it over.

"Pretty much any way you try to grab the bottle will poke a hole in it," Raios said. "Just let me do this for you."

"Fine," the dragon recanted, and when Raios poured the water down his throat he closed his eyes and gulped—they kept going until Salamence drained the bottle. The salt-free water tasted peculiar, almost like nothing, but it refreshed Salamence immensely when it went down. "Ahh…"

"Since you're just super tired, hydration should help you recover," Raios said, shaking the bottle empty and putting it on the ground beside him. "I thought about taking you into town, into the Pokémon Center, but… it's still a bit far, and I didn't want to leave you in the ball too long. So here we are." He lay down on the grass, a few feet away from his dragon. "Oh, I almost forgot! Falkner was kind enough to give us money for winning. I can get food in town tomorrow!"

"That's splendid."

"Yeah. This has been one wild day," Raios concluded. "And we're probably going to have another one tomorrow. I don't know about you, but I need some rest, so… good night, Salamence."

Salamence realized that Raios must have been walking on his own for hours. "Good night, friend…"

"Sweet dreams this time, okay?" Raios said, turning over on the grass. "Tomorrow we'll do our best to find him."

Night fell. Salamence listened to its peaceful sounds—the wind's mild rustling, the faint cries of wild animals, his own low relaxed breaths—and waited for sleep to overtake him. He weighed in his mind every change that had befallen him so far, and as he drifted off he found himself regretting very few of them. His only wishes were to see soon again the ocean, and his son.


	7. Rainbow-Feathered Bird

7. Rainbow-Feathered Bird

"Yeeooooooww!"

As soon as the trailer door opened up enough, Raikou sprang out into the daylight—he leapt clear over the head of the man dressed in purple, who cried out in shock.

"R-Raikou?!" he said, scrambling to grab something from his pocket. "How is that possible?"

Raikou landed his huge jump and turned to face the human. "For a guy dressed like a wizard, I'm surprised you're surprised," he taunted. "Anything's possible when I'm around!"

He waited for the human to make a move—if anything risky happened, Raikou could just turn around and run off into the woods waiting a couple hundred feet away. They were behind some building at the edge of a city, and Raikou assumed it to be Ecruteak since everything looked pretty old-fashioned.

The purple man pulled out an equally purple Poké Ball. "Oh, is this a battle now?" Raikou said. "I don't really do battles…" Raikou backed away and thought to run, but how could he save Lugia if he fled? The poor guy was so helpless in there! "If I defeat you, Purple Pants, will you tell me what—"

"Here goes nothing," said the human, tossing the ball high in the air. It sailed over the space between them, and Raikou thought the aim was horrible—until he realized the ball was headed straight for him. "Hey—we're supposed to fight first!" he cried, jumping back. He stumbled, and the purple sphere collided with his head. "Wait! N-no!" The ball clicked open and seemingly exploded with a flash—the light enveloped Raikou and pulled him away from reality. "Nononononono—aah! Yeeeoooowwww! I can't… I can't see! I can't feel _anything_!"

The blinding light faded to black, and Raikou struggled to break free from the darkness. It was as if nothing existed anymore but Raikou's mind—and sheer willpower was hardly one of his shining strengths. He thrashed as hard as he could, and he occasionally felt a nudge in the space around him, but after a while he grew tired and felt futile fighting the empty void.

"Bleh… I give up," Raikou thought, and as soon as the words crossed his mind the blackness shifted and a physical world materialized from it. Raikou found himself sitting in a hilly field, with the grass blowing gently in a cool but somewhat stale breeze. His gaze drifted upward to an unusual sight—the cloudless sky was more gray than blue, and there was no sun to be seen. Despite that, the air and ground carried plenty of warmth and everything was bathed evenly in a midday light.

Next to him rested a pile of plush versions of his favorite animals—mostly electric-types. He cautiously prodded a big fuzzy Lanturn at the foot of the pile, and to his delight it delivered an invigorating electric charge. Raikou glanced around eagerly, and saw a racetrack that definitely hadn't been circling the field the last time he looked.

"Wow. Is this… the inside of the ball?" Raikou stared straight up, as if expecting to see a domed ceiling. But the gloomy gray sky simply greeted him again. "It's weird… it knows what things I like, but it sucks at making scenery. I guess nature's too tough to copy."

Raikou lovingly grabbed the fuzzy Lanturn with his mouth and went off to investigate the racetrack. He dragged the larger-than-life stuffed animal along the ground for a few seconds, until it suddenly shrank and he could carry it like a chew toy. "This is like a dream," Raikou realized. "I can control this stuff. Maybe." He paused and tried to will several things to happen—he wanted the sky to be blue, and the sun to come out, and the racetrack to be not so far away, but only the last one worked. The starting line instantly appeared at his feet.

"I guess this means I'm captured," Raikou sighed, not feeling motivated to run the track at all. He dropped his Lanturn doll, which immediately blew up to its exaggerated size again. "This could be fun, but… it's all fake. It's just trying to keep me okay until I'm needed for a battle, or something like that. I wanna be out there… with Entei and Suicune… I'd rather be free." He sighed, picked up his Lanturn, and walked the track, hoping to see the real world again soon.

* * *

"Farewell!" Salamence called, just as Raios emerged from the market.

Raios made his way to the grassy space where Salamence waited. "I got everything we need," he said, holding up his new backpack. He had spent his earnings on the bag, food and water, a map of Ecruteak City, and something else. "And I got you a present, Salamence."

The dragon sat up, giving his head a tilt. "A gift? Is it fish?"

They had just gotten breakfast, but apparently Salamence always had room for fish. "Ha. No, but I got some fish-flavored food for you. And that's not the present." Raios revealed a thick strip of purple and white nylon, with a latch at each end. The colors of the material were, very specifically, Lugia's colors. "It's a collar! What do you think?"

Salamence stared at it. "You purchased this for me?"

"Yeah… it's fine if you don't want it. I just thought you'd like the colors, and—"

"No, it suits me quite well. I only hesitated at first, because I have never worn anything in my life. I paused to consider the significance of the gift." Salamence leaned forward. "It may surprise you, friend, but… I sincerely want to wear it. Go ahead and fasten it on."

"I knew you'd like it!" Raios brought the band around the base of Salamence's neck, clipping it in the back. "They said it stretches to fit large Pokémon, but it already fits you perfectly. You look great!"

"Excellent!" Salamence caught himself giving a gaping smile. "I mean…"

"There's nothing wrong with being happy about little things like collars," Raios said.

Salamence sighed and tried to explain his feelings once again. "It bothers me. I fear that this is a sign of my increasing tameness. What if I no longer feel at home when I return to my place in the sea?"

"No, here's the thing," Raios said. "We're running around in human society right now, so of course you naturally want to participate. That's normal—it actually means you're not a psycho or anything like that. When we go home, you'll get back to your old ways again."

"I hope so, friend."

"Trust me," Raios said, patting Salamence reassuringly. "Let's get going now—I think we can find him today if we get on it." He pulled the map from his new bag and led Salamence down a wide road. Unlike Olivine City, Ecruteak had few vehicles driving around, and pedestrians could often treat entire roads like sidewalks. "Since Morty is the Gym Leader… let's go to his Gym."

"I was speaking with another Trainer's companion as you perused the market," Salamence said as he walked. "He was a pale green, with spikes on his back and black openings on his body. He called himself a Tyranitar."

"I've heard of those," Raios said. "Was he nice?"

"He was certainly very reserved. He told me that he had just been to what he called the Burnt Tower. They've rebuilt it, he said."

"You want to go see it, huh?"

"My son is of the utmost priority, but yes—the tower is very important to me."

"Really?" Raios never knew Salamence had ties to Ecruteak City, other than the Kimono Girls who seemed to know a lot about Lugia. "I still have a lot to learn about your history, you know."

"Let me share it with you, then. Briefly, though." Salamence spoke in low tones as he walked. "I once lived here in this city, when I was much younger. I roosted on the roof of an impressive monument called the Brass Tower—my father had taught me that it was my home. No matter how far I ventured, I always returned to my tower to rest. On occasion humans ventured to the roof to meet me, but I was always too shy for it—I would fly off and return hours later, when I could be alone again.

"But there are two towers in Ecruteak City. The second one is called the Tin Tower—you can see it in the distance there, overlooking the forests just beyond the city. A magnificent rainbow-feathered bird lived on that tower, just as I lived on mine—her name was Ho-Oh, and we kept to our own for the most part.

"From my tower, I could observe her meeting humans quite often. They always bowed low, and often shed tears, honored just to be near her. I even saw that the humans spoke to her, and she… I wanted to be treated similarly, but… the humans had capturing devices even back then, and the thought of being caught filled me with anxiety. So I would always avoid visitors."

Salamence continued, quietly. "One night, something… terrible happened. Ho-Oh, in a… sudden act of animosity, set fire to my tower. I tried to summon rain to put it out the rampant flames, but the weather came too late, and my tower became little more than a charred basement covered in ash and cinders. When I saw my lifelong home blackened and destroyed, I turned and fled—I felt secure in that city no longer. I eventually flew over the sea in despair, taking refuge in an isolated chain of islands patrolled by whirlpools. For the next year or so I would learn to swim and dive and hunt in the ocean, and from the ease at which I honed those skills I was certain that the marine world was my true, natural habitat."

"…Wow, that's crazy," Raios said in wonder. "I had no idea… that you lost your home like that."

Salamence sighed. "It happened many years ago, over a century ago. My despondency seemed insurmountable at first, but soon the ocean eroded it away. I let my tower life be forgotten."

"What happened to Ho-Oh? Did she get in trouble?"

"She absconded, too. When my Brass Tower collapsed, it caused a fatality near its base. An innocent animal lost its life. I suppose the guilt of causing that death drove… Ho-Oh to abandon the city."

Raios balled up his hands into fists. "Why would she burn down your tower? That makes no sense."

"I don't know. She had never shown hostility before. Maybe the humans corrupted or coerced her."

Raios made an unconvinced grunt. "I can see how you came to not like humans that much, but… if _they_ did it, why would they want to ruin Ho-Oh's honor?"

"We can only conjecture."

"I hope we find out somehow," Raios said. "For now, we have to worry about Morty though."

They came to a large, purple-painted building with darkened windows. Its size, along with some posters and symbols, distinguished the place from the other rectangular, wide-eaved buildings nearby. It also had a large lawn that seemed to be half garden, half Pokémon battlefield. "Is this the Gym?" Salamence asked.

"Yeah, can't you see the sign?"

"Of course." The dragon shook his head. "But unlike you, friend, I have not learned the symbols."

Raios wondered what symbols he was talking about, until it clicked. "…Oh! You can't read. I didn't think about that at all."

"In all my years, I have never needed to learn."

"I figured… hey, the Gym's closed."

Salamence squinted. "Yet I see a human inside. That is likely to be Morty."

They watched as the person backed through the Gym's front doors, carrying a huge icebox. From the vibrant purple outfit, white gloves, and prominent red bowtie, Raios thought the guy looked like a magician. He even had a short white cape, and his dark blond hair formed one large bang hanging over his face. There was no way he wasn't a performer of some kind.

"Hello there," he said. "I'm sorry, but the Gym's closed for now. I'm just passing through, you see."

"Hi. Are you Morty?" Raios asked.

The man finished locking the Gym doors behind him and starting hauling the icebox to a small lot by one side of the building. "Oh no. My name's Eusine." The only vehicle there was a large tractor-trailer in the back, so he seemed to be heading for that. "Morty has been busy recently, but I think you could challenge him very soon. I bet that Salamence of yours would give him a run for his money."

"Where do you think we could find him?"

"You should look… at the dragon convention underway this week. Morty could be there right now. Maybe you can convince him to have a battle! Now, if you'll excuse me…"

"Uh, thanks for the help," Raios said, checking his town map again. "That's at the fairgrounds, right?"

"Absolutely." Eusine stopped, as if waiting to make sure Raios walked off in the right direction. "Just down that road, in fact—all the way across town."

* * *

"Oh my gosh!" cried a muffled voice. "What're the odds?! Higher than usual, I guess, but—wow! Still wow!"

Raios turned around to see a Shelgon scrambling his way. The shelled Pokémon had spotted them taking a break on a side street, away from the busier shops and dragon-based attractions. The Shelgon paid Raios no attention, scooting right up to Salamence instead.

"Oh, you look so amazing!" she exclaimed. "Now I _know _it's true—I'm gonna be an amazing dragon someday! With wings and everything! You're so cool!"

"Er… hello," Salamence said shyly. He had never received attention quite like this. "You are clearly excited to evolve."

"Um, yeah! I just did my first evolution a week ago, but this shell is so… awkward and heavy! I'm just a walking lump or something!" She gazed longingly at Salamence. "I can't wait to become a dragon, for real. I guess I have to train harder than ever."

Raios flipped through a small book he had received on "Dragon Street" for free—each page focused on a different dragon-type, giving pictures, a description, and the names of any famous Trainers who had one. "It looks like Shelgons are devoted to preparing for evolution. They even avoid eating, it says."

"I haven't been starving myself lately," the Shelgon confessed to her evolved form. "My Trainer's friend is taking care of me, and she always gives me food."

Salamence nodded but said, "Wouldn't fasting hamper your growth? I would imagine that you need as much nutrition as possible to complete such a dramatic transformation."

"Oh! I never thought of that. You must've not even starved. Wow." Shelgon wanted to add that the Salamence sounded so smart on top of all his physical awesomeness, but she didn't want to… creep him out. He already looked sort of uncomfortable with all the admiration. "No matter what, one day I'll be amazing, and I'll fly _everywhere_, and…"

As they chatted, Raios heard another voice. "Hey, there's the Shelgon!" said someone coming down the wide sidewalk. "Looks like it found a role model." The stranger had a navy blue outfit on that seemed more fit for dragon riding than for walking the streets. A woman dressed in black walked by his side, arms crossed.

"I only looked away for a second," she said. "Honestly, I didn't expect Shelgon to move that fast."

"Well, it's because she must've seen this Salamence," said the guy. He nodded at Raios and shook his hand. "Hi. My name is Lance. Are you a dragon tamer, too?"

"I'm Raios." Raios looked at Salamence. "I don't consider myself a tamer of anything. I got him as a Bagon. He's my only Pokémon."

"Ah. Either way, it looks like you have an excellent Pokémon at your side."

The woman in black introduced herself too. "I'm Cynthia. I'm supposed to be taking care of that energetic Shelgon… but it looks like she'll behave just fine with your Salamence around."

"I saw your names in this book," Raios said.

Cynthia nodded. "Yes, I'm on the Garchomp page. Lance should be on the Dragonite one."

Lance looked at Salamence with interest, as if sizing him up as an opponent. "So, how many badges do you have left, Raios?"

"Well, I got one—from Falkner. We met him on the road."

"…Oh." Lance and Cynthia exchanged a look, and Raios felt like a novice next to them all of a sudden. They probably had a ton of badges, if they trained dragons and everything.

Cynthia said, "Keep going. I'm sure you can get the other seven if you raise a strong, balanced team. Then you can challenge the—"

"I'm sure he knows already, Cynth," Lance said. "Falkner must've told him, too."

Raios saw a chance to ask about Morty. "Hey, are you acquainted with the Gym Leaders? We're trying to find Morty, but he's not at his Gym and we haven't found him here."

"Oh. I wouldn't hit the Gyms out of order if I were you," advised Lance. "They're carefully planned out to help Trainers gradually reach their potential. But if you're just looking for Morty… I would check the Brass Tower. That's what the Burnt Tower used to be called. The whole project was devised by Morty, and it's just recently finished, so he must be busy wrapping things up there if he's not anywhere else."

Cynthia added, "We saw that tower earlier today. I think it would have been amazing to see Lugia up there! I almost want to stay a while longer and learn more about Johto's mythology."

"Why did Morty rebuild the tower?" Raios asked. "I heard that it was left burned down for a really long time, out of respect or something."

Lance shrugged, "Beats me. He's always been deeply interested in Ho-Oh, not Lugia. Maybe he just thought about restoring the tower to its former glory."

"He probably wants Ho-Oh to return here," guessed Cynthia. "Since Ho-Oh left when the tower burned down, maybe fixing it would bring Ho-Oh back."

"Maybe."

It didn't explain why Morty would take Lugia's son, but Raios didn't want to reveal things about Lugia to random people. "I guess we'll get going, then," he said. "Thanks for the help!"

"If I see Morty here, I'll tell him you're looking for him."

"Okay."

Lance waved and turned to walk off. "Good luck!"

"Come _over _here, Shelgon!" Cynthia urged. "I know you want to hang around the Salamence, but they need to go." She led her mid-evolution dragon away, following Lance down the road. "See you again soon, Raios."

"One day I'm gonna evolve, and I'm gonna find him again!" Shelgon vowed, loudly. "Then we'll… well, then I won't be so awkward, that's for sure."

"She seemed to be utterly captivated by me," Salamence said, alone again with Raios. "I'm not quite sure how to handle feelings like those."

"What do you mean?" Raios said, getting his map.

"Never mind. Are we to visit the Brass Tower yet?"

"Yeah, since Lance said Morty might be there. But there's a place along the way that we need to go to first."

"I see." Salamence stood up, but then he sat again. "Before we walk once more, though, let us have a midday meal."

"You mean lunch?"

"Yes, that. All of that Shelgon's talk of fasting has made me hungry."


	8. Mind Dive

8. Mind Dive

"See?" Raios said. "I told you it was a good idea to come here before the tower."

Salamence let out a deep breath. "You can commend yourself later. Let us focus on what might finally be the moment I have been wishing for… for so long now."

They were walking to the back of Ecruteak's time-honored dance theater. Raios had managed to convince the Kimono Girls to let him see Lugia's son—mostly by demonstrating that he knew all about the poor creature already. Plus, Lynn had called in advance, giving Raios the credibility he desperately needed. Raios would definitely visit her again on the way back to the sea—she'd be thrilled to see Lugia's son, and maybe the father would want to have a word with her…

"Here we are, Raios," Kuni said, stopping before a large sliding door. She was the oldest of the Kimono Girls—who were all sisters, Raios discovered—and the only one leading Raios. "We are hosting some Pokémon battles tonight," she explained, "and I must join my sisters. I will leave Lugia under your care tonight. Please help him as much as you can."

"Thank you," Raios said. "Can we… spend the night here?"

Kuni nodded. "Certainly. We covered the room's floor with bedding, for Lugia." She bowed and backed away. "We'll check up later, okay? Good luck," she said before disappearing down the hall.

"We're finally here…" Raios turned to Salamence, who stared intently at the door. "So, are you ready—"

"Slide open that panel," the dragon said in a low voice.

"…Right." Raios pushed the door open, and Salamence strode into the room at once. The floor was lined with big, soft pads… and in the center of the room was the same young Lugia that Raios had seen in Olivine. His wounds seemed to be making no progress, and he looked rather pale. Raios wondered if they were nourishing him at all without those feeding tubes.

Salamence let out a cry and rushed to his son's side, pushing pads askew with his feet. He wanted to reach out and embrace, but his Salamence limbs were too short… so he sank to the floor, lying side by side with his son. He whined and pushed his head against his son's, urging him to move, to open his eyes. But the sprawled, damaged young Lugia responded only with cold, slow breaths… and try as he might, Salamence could only lie there and breathe with him.

"It is true, then… you are but a slumbering shell of your vibrant, energetic self," he said to his son quietly. "And your wounds… no one as innocent as you deserves them. They make me regret everything. Everything, my son… I'm sorry." Salamence choked up and went silent, unwilling to say anything more.

"Are you alright?" Raios asked from the door. Salamence seemed to be blaming himself pretty hard for the things that happened, more than seemed reasonable. "Mind if I sit with you? The two of you?"

Salamence nodded. "I simply needed to… say a few words that could not wait."

"It's okay. Just don't forget to feel happy too, now that you're finally here with him." Raios sat right in front of Salamence and the young Lugia—he found it oddly funny that the father and son looked so mismatched as they lay together. The son was even a bit larger than the father.

Odd as they were, they were still family…

"We just have to wake him up somehow," Raios found himself saying.

The dragon peered up at his friend from the floor. "I have a hunch as to what is happening," he said. "The suspicion has been growing for a while now, especially on our journey when I had time to think. It has to do with maturation, and a sacred rite."

"Whoa." Raios was relieved that humans weren't mentioned at all. "You've never told me about sacred stuff before."

"Before I explain, I would like for us to attempt to enter my son's mind. That is how we will retrieve him."

"I knew it! I was thinking we'd have to do that."

"I would go it alone, but… I am impatient." Salamence sighed. "If I transform back into my original form, it may take a while for my psychic abilities to regenerate. To save time, I ask that you assist me with yours, which are still strong as ever."

"You don't even need to ask. Let's do it," Raios said warmly. "I know what to do."

Salamence yawned, settling in. "I would like to know how you will proceed. Please, elucidate before we begin."

"Oh, okay. Let's see…" Raios was eager to talk about his techniques again, but he hesitated to show it this time. Salamence respected utterly the privacy of the mind—what if he didn't like how good Raios was at invading it? "Well, I've only done it to wild animals, first of all. Not to people or anything."

"Ah. Good."

With that out of the way, Raios explained more freely. "I call it mind diving. I just relax and let my mind free up. It ends up being a sleepy trance, or you could just literally do it in your sleep. That's how I met with you to talk in your cave—instead of dreaming, I dived into your mind. But it was shallow, so you were aware of my presence and I behaved like an external entity. Everything I experienced was based on your mental picture of your surroundings. It's really interesting—I can see places where you aren't looking, but it just looks like what you expect it to be."

"Hmm… that _is _fascinating. I can see why you were led to experiment with… mind dives. I like that metaphor."

"Yeah, I figured you would. So, that's the shallowest kind of thing you can do. If you go deeper, then you actually become part of the other mind, seeing from their eyes and everything. The other mind is still aware of you, though… they could try to force you out, or even let you control the body, depending on how open they are. If they're not too open, I think you could try to force your way in, but I've never had to. Wild animals are almost always really open.

"Finally, I think there's a third stage. There's lots of stuff in our minds that we don't know about, and I think if you dived deep enough you would enter that. The part of the mind that isn't conscious. I think if you went in there, the mind would no longer be aware of you, but you'd be able to interact with… whatever's down there."

"Impressive," Salamence said. "That seems about right."

"What do you mean?"

"I have never considered the 'shallower' interactions, but our sacred rite has to do with that deep, unconscious level. When the time is right, I—the father—would enter that realm in my son's mind, bringing him with me as well. Together, we would explore the inner workings of his being."

"What?" How could a mind enter itself? "Isn't that like… turning his brain inside-out?!"

"Maybe. I don't understand the paradoxical nature of the event, but it is a very important stage in his life." Salamence nuzzled his son's face longingly. "I fear that in the chaos of the storm, or perhaps when the humans were treating him, he began the journey without me. Only recently have I realized that, to the outside world, he would appear to be a body without a mind.

"I see now that your methods and mine are the same. My ritual of the trance is the same as your mind dive. This makes things very simple, friend—you must dive into my mind first, and following that, dive again to my son, taking me with you."

"Even if it's a simple plan… it's still tricky. I've never chained it like that." Raios looked from Salamence to the young Lugia, as if imagining the dive from one to the other. "I don't know if I can carry you with me. And I haven't gone that deep before." If something didn't work, Salamence would have turn back into Lugia and do everything himself. "I guess we just have to try!" Raios felt the excitement rise up in him—he always felt that way before trying out special mind tricks. And he was about to go into someone's unconscious!

Salamence yawned again. "As you can see, I have been preparing myself for it. It is time for you to relax as well. Go on… I trust you fully."

"Oh… okay. Just close your eyes and I'll do the rest. I think." Raios went down to the floor in front of the two Pokémon, clearing his head. "I can sense your mind right now, but I need to concentrate to get in there." Even though his targets were just inches away, he had to be as focused as possible to reach them. Minds were versatile, and Raios wasn't afraid of damaging anybody's, but he could still mess up and waste time starting over from the beginning.

First, he had to get in shallow. Raios calmed himself and closed his eyes, as if going to sleep. In the quiet of the dance theater's back room and with no sight, Raios's senses had little to report—which made it easier for Raios to escape them. He made his mind blank, and eventually he fell into a trance, not really thinking much at all but feeling Salamence's mind nearby. Minutes flowed by quickly.

After an unknown length of time, Raios found himself sitting in the room… next to himself. There was just a split second of natural bewilderment before he remembered that his out-of-body state was familiar—it meant he had successfully freed his body from his mind. Without senses to feed it, Raios's mind was eagerly making up an environment for itself, and it had chosen to recreate the padded room where they were all lying around. Raios moved over to Salamence, who looked at him brightly.

"Looks like you did it," Salamence said, lifting his head. "Good job. Let us celebrate!"

Raios held Salamence by one of the fin-looking things projecting back from his head. "Sorry," he said. "I have to go meet with the real Salamence, not you the dream one."

"Grrawwrr!" Salamence snapped at Raios for a second, then whined and sprawled on the floor. "Fine," he said. "I'm sad that you don't want to play for a bit, but… whatever. His son's more important. I'm still gonna give you get tons of déjà vu, though." Salamence barked. "You don't know what it's like to be called imaginary!"

"Yeah, okay." As dream Salamence went back to sleep, Raios focused his attention on the presence of the real Salamence's mind—it wasn't in Raios's dream scene, but Raios could still sense it very strongly. He started to mentally insert himself into the entity—he could hardly describe what he was doing—and the world around him started to fade away… only to be replaced with a slightly different, more detailed version.

It was Salamence's mental picture of the room.

Raios felt the dragon become alert. "Raios," he said mentally. "I sense you are… closer. Your mind is here with mine, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Don't open your eyes yet. I need to go deeper still, just to be safe." Now that Raios was in, he just had to push himself farther into Salamence's mind. It was like trying to break a tough rubber band—there was some resistance, and it took a couple tries before he made it through. The room vanished and Raios found himself in the dark, with his body feeling incredibly unusual. His limbs were short, his neck was long, and he had a long tail and wings on his shoulders. He couldn't see, but he knew it was Salamence's body.

"I'm in," Raios said mentally.

Raios felt his heart accelerate—but it was really Salamence's. "Indeed you are," the dragon said out loud, and Raios had the bizarre experience of saying the words himself. "I… I don't know whether to be impressed or appalled that you can do such powerful things, friend. I only knew my own kind was so capable."

"We know each other so much, you know," offered Raios. "And you're a psychic like me. So it's easier for us than if I did this to a stranger." Raios tried to speak that, but Salamence didn't seem to be letting him take control of anything. Which was fine—Raios wouldn't have been open either. "Speaking of harder things, now I have to take you with me into your son's head."

"What do you propose we do?"

"Normally you would have to trance out or go to sleep, to separate your mind from your body. But I think I can just help you along." Raios used a modified version of the move Hypnosis to put Salamence to sleep, and as soon as the body went dormant Raios roused his friend's mind. "Okay, now we're both out, experiencing what our minds are making up for us. Kind of like dreaming, except we're doing it together," he explained in brief. "Let me try to find your son…"

Salamence said, "I sense him… faintly."

"Oh, I just felt it." Raios felt like he was trying to listen to the quietest sound in the world. "He's barely there." It felt like he could dive in, but… "If I go in, I might end up taking him over."

"That may be necessary. You have my permission to do so."

"I'm diving in now—try to follow me." Raios probed the faint entity, and then pushed gently. It gave immediately—in fact, it seemed to be sucking Raios in! He tried to back up before he went too far, but it was like sliding down a hill of ice, and before Raios knew it he was barreling through the mental barriers in order.

He slid easily through the shallow one…

Plowed through the second one…

And slammed into a mental wall, leaving him dazed.

If Raios wasn't careful, he'd take over the dormant Lugia body and wake up in it. He pushed repeatedly at the last mind barrier, not knowing what would happen if he made it through. It seemed impossible, though, like digging through bedrock.

"I am here," Salamence said. "You must have gotten in quite easily, filling the mental vacuum."

"Did you have trouble?"

"No."

"That's good—maybe your powers are coming back."

"It was just willpower, that's all. You left a rather glaring path to follow."

"Oh… well, can you help me push through the last barrier?"

"I already have. Open your eyes."


	9. Sacred Rite

9. Sacred Rite

The first thing Raios saw was a huge, familiar, white and purple friend standing over him.

"Welcome to the world within," Lugia said, gazing down at Raios with a warm smile. "You look wonderful."

"Oh," Raios said, examining himself. Lugia liked the blue and gray coat more than Raios did. "I didn't know we'd be like this."

Lugia shook his head. "This is no mere dream," he said, sitting down so that he didn't have to tower over Raios. "We are deeper than that, and we can only be ourselves here."

"You mean I can't transform or anything…"

Raios was very poor at concealing his unhappiness in the inner mind environment. "To be honest, you're stuck with a very agile form," Lugia said, hoping to cheer his friend up. "At any rate, I'm impressed that you could get us this far."

"Where are we, anyways? It looks like a lake… but it's huge. And it's pretty cold."

Lugia glanced over his shoulder, at the body of water that stood still as stone. "Oh. Let us investigate this first, then." He waded into the chilly, opaque waters, eager to swim… but even after many paces forward, the lake only went up to Lugia's ankles. "What a disappointing body of water. It's more of a giant pond than a lake."

"Is this how we find your son?" Raios asked, hovering over the lake to follow Lugia. The air was cold, and Raios's thin down covering didn't help much. "We just wander around?"

"He must be here somewhere, and the only way to find him is to search. As we do so, I will explain certain things to you in greater detail." Lugia walked on through the lake, dragging his tail through the water and filling the body of water with shallow waves. Raios hovered at Lugia's side, by his shoulder—and even up there, Raios still felt small. If only he could be a Lugia too, living big and happy with a father… he would even have a brother—

"I suppose you could transform into one at some point," Lugia said. "I would not like for you at all to abandon your own kind, though!"

Raios felt very warm all of a sudden. "You read my mind!" he blurted out.

"This brings us to the first thing about which I meant to warn you. I wish I had spoken sooner—since our minds are distilled and exist in a purer form, strong feelings show through you. I just heard what must have been a longing of yours."

"I'm sorry…"

"No, no. I… I'm touched that you would still have me as your father, after all this time. I think my son would enjoy your company, too. But you know that it isn't natural for you to change yourself in such a way. I remember telling you on the night we parted ways that—"

"Forget I said anything," Raios said. "It was just a random thought. I'd rather hear more about where we are right now."

"…Very good." Lugia gazed ahead—the lake seemed to stretch on forever. Lugia spread his wings and lifted into the air, assisted by his own telekinesis. After a sideways glance to see that Raios was following, he continued his description. "As you know, we are in my son's unconscious. It seems far disconnected with reality, but it is surprisingly consistent and convincingly lifelike. However… the landscape is barren. The one thing that cannot be fabricated here… are other living beings.

"That is mostly true, at least. My son's unconscious could manifest itself as a person, or even multiple lifeforms. It is the one in control of this world, for the most part—we can infer from the stability of the environment that my son's mind is stable as well. The cold… could either be a matter of preference, or a sign of his decreasing health. I am not sure."

"So… what's this whole thing about?"

"Ah, yes. It is a journey that marks the very start of the passage into adulthood. If I were doing it properly, I would enter this realm with my son, and we would seek out his unconscious. The goal is to interact with it until it personifies itself, at which point my son would speak with it."

"This whole thing… is so your son can talk to himself?!" Raios said. He was so intrigued that he hardly noticed the cold air biting at him as it rushed by. It must be a fascinating thing to talk to your own unconscious, he thought.

Lugia continued, saying what came to his mind. "I remember my own journey. My father called it catching up with my soul, but I would describe it as self-discovery. The world inside my head was oceanic, but altogether lifeless. We had no luck finding any manifestations of my unconscious, and my father seemed unhappy about it.

"Suddenly, he stopped. He told me that I had failed some test, and that I was not… that I was not a clever enough Lugia to proceed. As he abandoned me, he said that the only way I could redeem myself was to continue alone. I cried after him and tried to give chase, but he escaped.

"I wept as I flew then, listless and dejected. I had no inkling of what puzzle there was to solve, and I felt terribly incompetent and lonely. My father had told me previously that all Lugia succeeded, and that there was nothing to worry about—yet I had still failed. I soon gave up trying to uncover the puzzle, and alternated between frustrated tantrums and fits of unrestrained, childish wailing. I didn't resent my father—in fact, I apologized repeatedly to him for being such a poor Lugia and son. I considered drowning myself in the endless ocean below, wondering if death in the imaginary world would still end my life." He paused to read Raios's expression, and saw him tearing up. "But! As I gazed down at the sea, challenging myself to plunge in and not come out, someone splashed out from the water and confronted me.

"It felt like speaking to my own reflection. We both asked simultaneously if we were the same person—and then we both laughed. 'You must be the outside me,' my twin said, and at that moment I understood what the journey had been for. We were to connect with each other.

"So we relaxed in the sea and chatted. I tried to ask my unconscious what it was that he did, but he couldn't describe it. Then, surprisingly, he asked me what _I _did, and I tried to explain the real world to him. 'It sounds rather tough,' he told me. 'I'm glad that you're out there, dealing with the unpredictable things beyond our control.'

"Soon he proposed an exchange of information. He wanted to know some of the best and worst things I had done in the real world, and in return he would share with me his greatest fears as well as what makes him the happiest. The assumption was that those qualities existed internally in me as well."

Lugia paused, and Raios knew what he was worrying about. What came next would be unbelievably personal. "You don't have to tell me what you said," Raios reminded him.

"I know… thank you." Lugia decided to skip ahead. "It ended when we embraced, there in the water. In that moment of love, I felt something rise up in me. I had become filled with psychic power, though I only learned that later."

"So you awakened your powers by hugging yourself deep inside your head?"

Lugia chuckled. "It only sounds awkward when you phrase it like that, friend. Afterward, I came to in the real world, and my father immediately returned to his own body and embraced me, asking for forgiveness. I did—I did forgive him, but I childishly made him promise not to ever lie to me again.

"I wanted to know why he would do such a cruel thing. He explained that since no physical fears had ever presented themselves during our journey, he had been forced to create emotional turmoil by abandoning me. He thought my greatest fear was of failure." Lugia's voice went faint. "But… actual… being… alone… unloved."

"So facing your worst fears is what draws out your unconscious person?" Raios asked, respectfully ignoring what must've been an emotional slip.

"It worked in my case. There may be other methods. I believe the father is responsible for figuring out the right one for his son."

"…Do you know? For yours?"

"Perhaps."

They flew on, leaving the huge lake behind on their way to a snowy mountain range in the distance. Raios didn't exactly look forward to heading somewhere even colder, but Lugia was leading the way—and here, he was in charge.

* * *

"It's s-s-so cooold," Raios complained, slowing to a stop.

Lugia landed in the snow and felt an immediate chill rise up his legs. "Landmarks such as these mountains must carry some significance, so I hope to find someone here. At the tallest summit, possibly, or this cavern ahead. Can you press on with me, friend?"

"Of c-course," Raios said, hovering past Lugia into the cave's entrance. The wind died down, but the air didn't seem much warmer. "Don't tell me you can get s-sick in this world."

"That is doubtful. But you seem very cold, and the air at this altitude is thin. Those factors can certainly sap your strength." Lugia ducked his head and followed Raios into the cavern. "Remember—if you see _any _living beings, it is a manifestation of my son's unconscious. He has been here for a while, so it seems likely that such manifestations are following or interacting with him."

"Got it." Raios felt better without the wind tearing at him, but the cavern grew steadily darker as they went deeper into it. Despite Lugia's interest in it, the cave seemed little more than a jagged tunnel through the rocky mountain—lifeless but for the hollow sound of air emerging from its depths. Soon it angled sharply downward, and Raios felt like he was descending into utter darkness. "Lugia?" he called. "Are you sure we can keep going? I can hardly see."

Lugia, still hunched over, walked past. "Let me check ahead… oh, it seems that there is water here! The cavern is flooded past this point."

"This is all you, then…" Raios followed Lugia to the edge of the water, trying to see it. But it just looked like part of the darkness. "I can't hold my breath that long, and you can probably see better. So…"

"I am not going to leave you in the cold."

"Just go for a swim, you," said a figure from the water. A light appeared, dangling just above its head, bathing the walls of the cavern in a yellow glow. "Cold as snowballs out there. But this water's niiiice and warm. Thanks to the mountain."

"Look Lugia, it's a Lanturn," Raios said, happy that he could identify the owner of the voice.

"Yes, I see." Lugia waded into the water to get a closer look—it really was warm—but the Lanturn backed away. "Who are you, Lanturn?"

The glowing fish turned off her light, and everything went dark again. "Just go by Lanturn," went her disembodied voice. "Was what my Trainer called me. Before he released me. Into the sea. Was… a wimpy Trainer in a way. But I give him credit."

"Do you… do you know Typhus?"

A splash in the water. "Uh-huh, course I do!" Lanturn cried. "Best friends."

"Could you please lead us to him?"

"Haha, no. Doesn't want to see you. And I don't have time to hear how sad it makes you. That your son is gone. Should've thought about that. Before kicking him out."

Lugia let out a soft whine, pleading with the darkness. "I want to reconcile with him. He needs to hear me out."

"Doesn't want to hear from you. Ever again. And that's final."

"Please…" Lugia felt tears forming. "I refuse to believe that my son has rejected me so deeply! We have had just as many good times as hard ones! No, more!"

Lanturn paused. "Get lost," she said after a moment.

"No—if he wants to reject me, I must hear it in person!"

Raios didn't think Lugia's agitation would help at all. "What if I go?" he called out.

The yellow glow returned, and Lanturn watched Raios as he drew closer to the water. "Who're you?"

"Raios."

"Oh!" Lanturn's light glowed even brighter. "Yeah. Very interesting. Okay, follow me."

"What?!" Lugia cried.

"I don't even know," Raios said. "I guess I'll… meet up with you later."

"I… I guess our roles have reversed. I will wait behind." Lugia gave a shaky smile. If the unconscious would only accept Raios, then so be it. "Good luck. Remember what I told you about the unconscious."

"I will."

"Let's go," Lanturn said. "Through tight spaces, so Lugia can't follow."

"How far do we have to go?" Raios asked. "I have to hold my breath."

"Not very far. If you swim fast."

"I think I can do that."

"Good. I like fast swimmers." Lanturn darted off, down through the water, taking the light with her. "Keep up!"

"Bye, Lugia," Raios said, taking a few deep breaths.

"Take care, friend. My son really was interested in you."

Raios nodded, and dived into the warm water. He followed Lanturn's light—the fish led the way through various rocky passages.

After a little more than a minute Raios signaled with telepathy, "I'm running out of air!"

"Almost there." Lanturn glanced back to see only a struggling Raios. "Lugia doesn't seem to be following."

"Faster…" Raios sped on, struggling to keep his mouth shut. When they reached a cavern with air, Raios darted from the water and gasped hard. "I need… to practice… diving…"

"Glad to be a fish," Lanturn noted to herself. "Anyhow, you made it. You were pretty fast."

They were in some sort of underground, watery cavern, similar to Lugia's secluded oceanic home. The main difference was that the only source of light was the glowing orb dangling over Lanturn's head.

"Who is this person?" said a new voice. A blue creature with a gray shell on his back drifted on the water over to Raios. "There are never strangers around here."

"I'm Raios."

"Why… I've heard of you then. Nice to meet you—I'm Lapras."

"The loser," Lanturn interjected.

"Don't listen to Lanturn, Raios. I know she brought you here, but… it's only because Typhus is interested in you. Otherwise, she would've told you to get lost."

"Hey. I can leave you all in the dark. If that's what you want."

"No… just let us talk for a bit, Lanturn." Lapras sighed. "Raios, I hope you can help us settle our differences."

"What differences?" Raios asked, looking from Lapras to Lanturn. The fish seemed to be pouting at Raios for talking to the wrong person.

"It's about Typhus's father," Lapras explained. "Lanturn loathes him."

"Good reasons to," shot back the glowy fish. "Should've seen how much Typhus cried."

"We're both trying to take care of him now, in a way. But Lanturn and I tell Typhus practically the opposite things. He doesn't know which to follow. It's not working out."

"Lapras, I'm back," called a relatively small Lugia. He popped his head out from the water and took a huge breath. "I hit another dead end. These caves are all the same, if you ask me."

"Welcome back! Come and meet this newcomer," Lapras said. "His name is Raios."

"Raios?" The Lugia splashed forward. "I've heard of you! You're a Latios, aren't you?"

"I guess…"

"Cool. I've always wanted to see you." The young Lugia dipped his head. "I'm Typhus. Call me Typh. You know my dad."

Raios joined Typhus in the water, so they could speak closely. "I've been looking forward to meeting you too," he admitted. "Except… we're in a pretty special situation."

Typhus tilted his head, looking just like his father. "What do you mean?"

"Well… you're asleep right now. This is like a dream, but more… deep."

"What?" Lapras said.

"Isn't a dream," added Lanturn.

"Don't you two know?" Raios asked Typhus's partners. "I thought you were…"

"I'm Typhus's friend. From when he started diving really deep. His dad forbid him from seeing me again."

Lapras glared at Lanturn. "I don't think that's true," he said. "I'm also a friend. I met Typhus on one of my great ocean journeys. I also met his father, and he was quite _kind_." Those last few words seemed to be aimed directly at Lanturn.

Neither friend had a clue that they were manifestations, Raios realized. The empty world in Typhus's mind was just _the_ world to them. "Typhus, did your father ever tell you about a special rite?"

"Call me Typh," the young Lugia repeated. "But yes, Lapras keeps telling me that I'm in the middle of a sacred rite. The thing is… my dad isn't here. And neither is my unconscious whatever. So even if I'm in it, I got left hanging."

Lanturn brightened her light. "Exactly," she said. "No reason to complete or even start. Typh is disowned."

"…Your father disowned you?" Raios asked, thinking of Lugia. It just didn't seem possible, that big guy being at all wrathful toward his son.

Typh nodded. "Uh-huh… it's a long story, actually. But he did say that I wouldn't be his son anymore. I said some mean things too, but…"

"It's okay, Typh," Raios reassured the suddenly subdued young Lugia. "Your father came here with me, and he wants to make things better. Lapras is right about the rite."

"Right about the rite…" Typh laughed. "Okay. Dad told me a lot about the thing before, so it made sense when you said I'm asleep. I could be. From what I know, though, I'm supposed to meet my unconscious. But instead I found Lanturn and Lapras, and they're definitely different people from me. They're my friends."

"They both have to be your unconscious, then."

Lapras frowned. "Are you kidding me? We're markedly different from each other, even more than we're different from Typh."

"Can't believe you just called me same person as Lapras," Lanturn sighed.

Raios shook his head. "I don't know all of what's going on, but there has to be an explanation for it."

"Wait, Raios, so my dad's in here too?" Typh said. "If he wants to just talk… I want to talk to him. He wouldn't have come if he still didn't want me, right?"

"Yeah!" encouraged Raios, but then he remembered what happened. "Well, he'd be here with me, but Lanturn kept him out."

"Whaaaaaat?" Typh whined. "You did that, Lanturn?"

"Doesn't love you!" countered the fish. "You even said you didn't want him either!"

"But I was just—"

"I thought we had finally gotten past. Past the sadness about your father. No way I would bring it back."

Lapras cleared his throat. "Since it's clearly back now, Lanturn, I think you should go get Typh's father so he can settle this all for us."

"No."

"There's no possibility that he still doesn't love Typh!" Lapras argued. "He's here for a reason. This is our chance to make everything good again!"

"I'm not going."

"Do it!"

"Said no!"

Lapras fired a beam of energy into the water, right at Lanturn. The fish seemed too stunned to even cry out. "I won't ask you again!" Lapras ordered, trying to establish his dominance. "I know you don't want to, but think of Typhus! It'll make him happy!" Lapras hesitated, and then attacked Lanturn a second time. "Are you or are you not going to help? Lanturn?"

Her light went out, leaving everybody in darkness. A chill spread through the water. Typh began to whimper, so Raios reached out and touched him reassuringly. "Lapras," he urged, "doing that isn't good either!"

"It's what has—"

A monster's deafening roar flooded the cavern, and the water around Raios and Typh drained away before slowly coming back. It was the movement of an immense wave, of which Lapras seemed to be on the receiving end.

"Raios! Typh! Help—"

The wave smashed into the far wall of the cavern, silencing Lapras.

Typh clutched onto Raios in terror, and since Raios was the smaller one they began to sink into the increasingly stormy water. Raios quickly used telekinesis to lift Typh and himself up, but not out—the water was the only thing keeping them from being utterly lost in the dark.

"I'm—I'm still here!" coughed Lapras. "Lanturn turned into a monster! You need to—aaaghh!"

Another bellowing roar, and thrashing in the water. Something slammed hard into something else, and Typh started to cry, squeezing Raios tightly. Raios didn't notice—he was trying to find Lapras psychically, but something blocked his efforts.

"Lapraaaaas!" Typhus wailed.


	10. Protect

10. Protect

"If I'm asleep, then wake me up!" Typhus yelled. "Right now, Raios! Right now!"

"It's okay!" said Raios. He wished Typh wouldn't hold him so tightly. "Just think about how you're not really in danger."

"You don't know that…"

"It wouldn't make any sense if—"

Another roar came, louder than ever. Typh squeezed Raios again, who gasped. "I'm… not a… big doll," he uttered. Once Typh released him a little he added, "I know it's scary, but we have to do something about it. We can't just… sit here." He rose into the air, carrying Typh with him, moving slowly through the dark. "We can hide for now," he whispered. "But you have to stay quiet. And watch out if we hit a wall."

"How does hiding help?" Typh murmured. He sounded a little more composed—but still anxious, judging by his unwaveringly tight hold of Raios. "We have to _stop _that thing."

"I would attack, but I can't see."

"Then use—AAAHH!"

A huge torrent of water blasted Raios and Typhus apart, and Raios hurtled through the darkness until he crashed into a rocky wall. He felt very real, overwhelming pain all over, but it rapidly faded away. Suddenly Raios was in the water again, dazed and even more disoriented—he couldn't recall falling back down at all. His head rang—he could make out some loud roars, but they seemed miles away.

"Ughhh," Raios groaned—faintly, because he remembered something about being quiet.

"Hey! Snap out of it!" cried a high-pitched voice nearby. "Is that you, Typh?"

"No… I'm Raios."

"Oh! Are you alright? You sound different."

"Who are_ you_?" Raios asked bluntly.

The voice squealed, "I'm Lapras!" Raios felt something grab his arm from the water. "See? Here you are… wait a minute, is this whole thing your arm? How did you get so big?!"

"Am I big?" Raios said dumbly. He felt the creature who claimed to be Lapras climb into his arms—and whatever it was, it really was small. "It makes more sense if… it's the other way around. You shrunk," he added, starting to regain his senses. "If you're really Lapras… maybe you turned small without knowing it. To get away from the monster."

"If Lanturn was able to transform… then that seems possible. Oh, but I don't want to remain miniaturized!"

"Then think of something bigger!" Raios urged. "I bet you can control it. Turn into something that glows so we can see!"

"I've only seen one electric Pokémon," said Lapras, "and I am _not _going to turn into a Lanturn. Furthermore, I don't even know how I became like this."

The monster was closing in again, judging by the loud rumblings that seemed to be approaching fast. The tiny Lapras trembled in Raios's arms and asked, "What do we do?! I'm too small to fight!"

Raios came up with something. "Just go hide for now," he said, putting Lapras back in the water. "I have an idea. I need to find Typh."

"Good luck," sounded Lapras's small voice, already a distance away.

Raios rose in the air again and called out Typh's name. Another huge water attack promptly rushed his way, but he darted off across the cavern before it could hit him. "Where are you, Typh?!" Instead of an answer, Raios heard some whimpering—so he flew in that direction, hoping not to hit a wall again. "Typh?" he said gently. "It's me, Raios." His voice bounced off an area that seemed more enclosed.

"Oh, good," Typh said quietly, trying futilely to sound like he hadn't just been crying. "I found a dry corner. Is it over yet, Raios?"

"No. But I have an idea." Raios reached out and found Typh, and the Lugia took his arm. "So… Lapras is alive. He turned into something really small, so he could get away from the monster."

"If Lanturn can transform, then so can he, right?"

"Yeah. But he says he can't control it, so my idea is that we'll help him. Listen carefully for a second."

"I'm always listening… but okay."

"Everyone here is part of your unconscious—except for you, me, and your father, since we're from the real world."

"I know that. But Lapras and Lanturn really were my friends."

"Your unconscious must've picked those forms because of that. That's the important part—since they're not real, they can change forms. I wanted Lapras to turn into an electric Pokémon, so that we can have some light—and the advantage, since the monster is probably water. But he said he only knows one electric Pokémon."

"What's a Pokémon?"

"…It's another word for animal."

"Oh. Right. I only know Lanturn."

"Yeah, that's what Lapras said… he doesn't want to turn into that, and he'd probably still be too small either way," Raios said. "Are you sure you don't know any other electrics? If you know, then Lapras could turn into it."

Typh tried to recall every creature he had met, but he only remembered a bunch of marine ones and some birds. "I don't know…"

"Not even a Pikachu or anything?"

"No." Typh heard a rumble in the darkness and tried not to freak out about it. "Is that one powerful?"

"Uh…"

"Wait!" Typh whispered excitedly. "I remember a bird that was black and yellow. I saw it flying once, but my dad didn't let me go meet it. It seemed huge! Maybe it's electric too—the wings were all spiky."

"I don't know what you're thinking of," Raios said, "but if you got a really good look at it… maybe we can get Lapras to turn into one."

"How?"

Raios's hesitant answer was drowned out by another massive roar, so close that he could feel the monster's hot breath. He pushed Typh away and managed to say, "Stay calm!" before something snatched him up and cut into him—he felt the teeth or claws against his wing, and then his side, before the monster roared once more and carried him off. It didn't attack Raios further, apparently satisfied that he was too injured to escape its grasp.

Trying his best to ignore the pain, Raios attempted to fight back. Again he found his psychic powers restricted—and the monster was constantly dragging him underwater, forcing him to focus on getting air instead. When he did get an opening, he tried a generic energy attack, but the dim beam dissipated harmlessly into the air. It was hopeless—Raios had never trained anything but his psychic powers, so his other attacks were all weak. And he was hurt. He could only wait for Typh or Lapras to save him… or for the monster to get tired.

It seemed to be content just carrying him around, for now.

* * *

Typh saw a dim light in the dark for just a split second. He knew things weren't going well for his new Latios friend.

"Raios…" he said faintly. "Now it's got you too." The young Lugia stood up in the dark. "There's no one left who can do this for me," he told himself. "I have to… fend for myself. Like Dad said." Typh slinked forward until he found the water, and slipped into it silently. First, to find Lapras.

Typhus swam as stealthily as he could, listening and feeling for anything in the water. A couple of times he bumped into a wall, but he shook off the collision and kept going. Whenever he heard a large rumbling or felt a massive surge in the water, he rushed away from the source as stealthily as he could. Eventually, someone called out to him in a timid voice.

"R-Raios?"

"No, it's me, Typh," Typh whispered back.

"Oh. I keep guessing wrong… this is me, Lapras. Even though I sound really small, and I _am _small—"

"Raios told me all about it. And the monster has him now, so it's up to us."

"Oh no… what do we do, then?"

"You probably don't know about this… I remember seeing a black and yellow bird fly by once, when I was out exploring with my dad. The bird looked huge, and it was probably an electric one. Can you… turn into it?"

"I doubt so. I don't even know what animal you're talking about," Lapras said.

"Wait." Typh went ahead and asked a question he'd meant to ask Raios. "The transformation thing… you and Lanturn both did it under stress, right?"

"Oh. Yes. It was involuntary."

"And you're not a fish… right?"

"No. I'm not quite sure what I am, to be honest. I feel the generally same, but much smaller."

"Let me see you, Lapras. Or hold you—you know what I mean."

Something poked into Typh's side, and he picked up a small, slippery animal with what felt like a tiny, hard shell. "Here I am," Lapras said, embarrassed. "Don't squish me, and don't laugh at me…"

"Wow, it's true." Typh almost couldn't believe it until he felt Lapras there in his own grasp. "Okay, Lapras. I'm picturing the bird I saw with as much detail as I can remember. I want you to do that too."

"What? I don't even know what you're thinking of!"

"Just try it, okay? I know you can do it."

"No, I… I can't. I still don't even believe that I'm your unconscious—that must be what you're trying to take advantage of here. Some kind of psychic trick!"

"Picture it hard, okay?" Typh repeated, ignoring Lapras's protests.

"Oh, fine! I feel like I'm making it up, but…" Lapras sighed. "Sure thing, Typh. I'm picturing the bird. Now what?"

"I'm going to do something, but you have to not get angry at me." The last thing Typh wanted was for Lapras to become a second monster. "Don't feel rage. You just have to focus on the bird. Okay?"

Typh's tiny friend squirmed. "What do you mean?!"

"Just trust me, Lapras! The monster could be coming any second!"

"Fine," Lapras sighed. "I wish you would be clearer, but… you certainly have more of a plan than I do. Alright… I'm picturing the bird."

"Don't… don't get mad at me, okay Lapras?"

"I won't, I won't. I promise."

Before Lapras could react, Typh lifted him up and placed him in his jaws. Sideways, Lapras didn't fit completely in his mouth, which was fortunate to say the least. "Oay! Ee ihuree uh irr," Typh managed to say.

"Wh-what're you doing?!" Lapras yelped loudly. "You're not _eating _me, are you? I may be small, but I'm not a morsel! Typh!"

"Ooh awmifh," reminded Typh, before taking a deep breath and diving straight down. Lapras immediately struggled to escape, but Typh tightened his bite, taking care not to actually chomp down on his poor friend. He felt so cruel… but it was the only way to change Lapras from puny to powerful.

Typh stopped diving down, before he crashed into the bottom. He had plenty of air left, so he calmly waited for Lapras to run out. As calmly as he could, at least—he could hardly stand to feel his friend's writhing and hear his panicked underwater cries. Sorry Lapras, he kept thinking. Please don't hate me, he hoped.

Soon Lapras paused, and shuddered. Then he went limp.

Typhus feared that he had gone too far, that he had drowned his last friend. Horrified, he started to whimper underwater, losing some of his breath in the process. But then… the body in his jaws began to wriggle with renewed vigor. It started to expand, too, and Typh felt his mouth being forced wider and wider. The entity lost its slickness and turned bristly, poking Typh's mouth as it grew. Finally, with a little jolt—an electrifying zap—Typh recoiled and spat out his friend. Lapras, or what used to be Lapras, finally escaped into the darkness, and Typh immediately followed it to the surface.

The monster intercepted him.

* * *

Something shook Raios forcefully.

He reflexively coughed out some water, and then he jumped—a huge, black and yellow bird stared him in the face, utterly concerned. It looked down on him at an angle, to avoid jabbing Raios with its impressively long beak. "Are you okay?!" it asked. After a moment, Raios realized that he could actually see in the dark—the bird glowed faintly.

Raios groaned. He kept getting hurt, and passing out… he couldn't take much more. "Is that you, Lapras?" The bird nodded eagerly at the name, and Raios smiled. "You did it..."

"Yes! Yes I did!" the bird said triumphantly, in hushed tones. "Oh, I feel so invigorated! Typh nearly drowned me, and… it worked. Look at me, I'm fairly massive!"

"That's good… ugh." Raios fought off a throbbing headache. "Where did you find me? It was carrying me before."

"Well, I picked you up from the water. Trust me, you want to be out of there when I start using electricity. I know well enough to tell you that much."

"Thanks…" Raios took a deep breath and gained an ounce of strength. "I'll watch from here, I guess. Good luck."

"I'm well equipped now! By the way, you might want to close your eyes for a second." Lapras took off, and with an exhilarated cry he unleashed a blast of light that illuminated the whole cavern. "Here I am, you monster!" he announced bravely, his wings generating dazzling light with every flap. "I know you have Typh! Let him go before I make you!"

With an answering roar, the monster revealed itself—some of its blue snaking body reared up from the water, looking like some cross between a fish and a dragon. Its mouth hung open in a furious gape—and Typh, lifeless, fell into the water. After sizing Lapras up for a moment, it roared again and fired a torrent of water his way.

Lapras dived just in time—the water brushed the very tip of his wing, causing no harm. "How could you do that to Typh, Lanturn?!" he cried. Even if the monster was feral and couldn't understand, it felt pretty satisfying to yell at it. "I thought you wanted to protect him!" Lapras dived through the air to grab Typhus in his talons—

But the monster blasted him away with water. It kept bellowing, unfazed by Lapras's rivaling size.

"Stop it!" Lapras demanded as he shook himself off. "Look at Typh! He's… he's… oh, let me put him somewhere safe! Then we can fight!" He really wanted to just blast the enemy with lightning already, but the attack would fry Typh as well.

The monster answered with another roar—and a peculiar spinning motion. The air around it grew agitated, whirling around in a twister that started moving toward Lapras. It picked up water as it went, turning into a powerful improvised tempest and battering Lapras with two elements at once. He found himself trapped by the storm-force winds—he grew exhausted fighting against them, and soon he tumbled through the air, held aloft by the storm itself.

Something white and heavy rammed into him—Typhus! The storm was having its way with the poor Lugia, hurling him along like a chunk of debris. Lapras fought to catch up to him, and when he did he reached out and grabbed him with his talons. His wings were painfully sore by now, but he couldn't stop—he made for the center of the cyclone, which he somehow knew would be calmer.

By the time he made it there, though, the twister died down, returning its water to the cavern's pool. Ignoring the furious roars directed at him, Lapras hastily flew to the dry corner where Raios rested. He placed Typh down next to the Latios, who coughed and looked up.

"Good job," he said.

Lapras gazed at the two bodies lying there—they looked so small and feeble. Typh in particular was motionless, with his eyes closed and a terribly vacant expression on his face. "Is he…"

"He's got to be alive," Raios insisted. He lifted into the air just a little, and started pumping Typh's torso. The positioning was awkward… but it was the only thing Raios could do.

"I regret attacking Lanturn. I'm so sorry, you two…"

"Maybe it's what needed to happen." Raios held on to hope and kept pushing. "Go… fight that thing—it's coming over here!"

"Understood!" Lapras turned and took to the air again, confronting the monster. It thrashed in the water, more enraged than ever. Lapras knew it wanted Typhus, so he hovered between them. "You have to get through me first!" he challenged, not really expecting a reasonable response.

"Just attack!" Raios cried from below. He wanted everything to be over already. It was getting increasingly hard to believe that in the real world, everyone was just sleeping in a padded room—and Raios wanted to return there as soon as possible.

Lapras dodged a few more hydro attacks and mustered his strength, but… something was wrong. "I can't!" he panicked. "I can't do it!"

"You've got to be kidding me! You have the biggest advantage ever!"

"It's… it's like I'm attacking myself—I—I don't know—"

"The monster's attacking _you_, isn't it?"

"Yes, but—efghhhbbrbbbb!" Pounding water slammed Lapras into the wall and he collapsed, landing right on top of Raios and Typh. Raios managed to dodge most of the impact, but not Typh—the Lugia suddenly started to cough violently, and some water poured onto the floor.

"That can't be how water moves feel…" he groaned.

"Typh!" Raios cried, helping him out from underneath Lapras. "Are you okay?"

"I hope."

Raios pointed at the black and yellow mess sprawled on the floor. "Look at Lapras!"

Typh stared, only just noticing the bird's presence. Lapras looked exactly like the bird from his memories! "Wow… it worked! Yes!"

"He says he can't attack the monster…"

"But this needs to end right this minute!" Typh coughed again and stood up, shaking the huge bird. "Are you there, Lapras?!"

"Urrrghh…"

"You do that while I distract it," Raios said, hoping he didn't just volunteer to get destroyed. He flew off before anyone could object and fired another weak beam at the monster, triggering another tantrum and leading the enemy away from the corner of the cavern.

"I'm here…" Lapras uttered, lifting his head to gaze at Typh. He picked himself up and offered an explanation for his hesitation. "It must be a mental barrier of some kind. That's why I can't attack it."

A strange thought occurred to Typhus. If a mental barrier was stopping Lapras… then maybe Lapras needed to lose his mind. That idea soon developed into the only plan Typh could think of, and he was so tired of fighting that he didn't think twice about it. He took a deep breath and spoke softly, like someone giving a confession. "Look… I know why you can't attack. It's because… you're not meant to."

"…What?"

"Raios said it before. You're not real, just a… just my imagination. And I never imagined you to be strong. You're based off of my friend Lapras, who was the gentlest person I knew."

"No… I attacked Lanturn, remember?"

"That… that was me, Lapras. I did that, because I was angry she refused to bring my dad. You only imagined it was you."

"I swear I did…"

"You did yell at her. But I was the one who hurt her. Lanturn is so strong-willed, I thought she needed it."

The huge bird gave Typh the most despairing look of betrayal. "So you… you made her strong, but not me?"

"I'm sorry, Lapras… I wanted my friends, and… you just happen to be an unwavering pacifist. I might have exaggerated your character a little, but…"

"Can't you change things?! Make the monster weak! Make me a fighter!"

"It's too late. I can't undo or imagine new things either. I already tried."

Lapras seemed increasingly agitated—with good reason. "What do we do now, then?!"

"I don't know… I thought turning you into the bird would work for sure, since it worked for Lanturn, but… I guess the change is only on the outside."

"I don't want _you_ to end up doing the attacking!" Lapras cried. "I have to protect you!"

"Sorry, but… you kind of can't do anything to help me. It's been that way from the start… you just kept me company. Thank you for that."

Lapras shook his head emphatically. "No! I saved you from the water when you were unconscious!" He spread his wings. "And I'm big enough to—"

"Did you save me? Or did you just imagine that too?"

"I very much saved you!" Lapras shouted. "Stop it!"

"Raios told me _he_ found me!"

"I _DON'T_ IMAGINE THINGS!" Lapras let out a piercing shriek. "I'm sorry for the loudness, but... I've done so much for you! From the night I found you crying alone… to moments ago, when I rescued you from drowning! How can you say none of it is real?! That I can't help you and never will?! I just want to protect you, Typh!"

Typh started to worry that the bird would lash out at him—he had a crazed look in his eyes. "If—if I'm wrong, then why can't you attack the monster?! You should try again!" he prompted, hoping he wouldn't have to provoke his friend much longer.

"No! It feels like… like I'm attacking myself! Ughhrr!"

"That's because you're both my imagination! See, it makes sense!"

"NO! I—YOU'RE—LYING!" Lapras's words seemed to come out with difficulty. "I cared—so much! And now—we—everything is—going wrong!" He threw his head back and forth, as if fighting something mentally. "I—love you—Typh! If I'm—not real—then I exist—to take care—of you!"

Typh trembled. As much as he regretted his hurtful plan, it could still work if he pushed just a little harder. "I'm… I'm sorry that you couldn't care for me! Try attacking again now! Please!"

"I CAN—CARE FOR—YOU! I—DID!" Lapras raged, completely ignoring the request.

"It's okay, Lapras—you were a n—nice friend!" Typh looked away to hide his wet eyes—he knew he was tearing Lapras apart, and his sorrow was starting to come out. He closed his eyes and delivered one last blow. "But Lanturn was the one who kept me safe!"

"NO!" Another enraged shriek. "IF I—CAN'T—PROTECT—YOU—THEN—"

The huge bird's cries turned wordless. Crackling with electricity, it deftly snatched up Typhus in its talons and shoved him into the very corner of the cavern. Typh feared the absolute worst, but then the bird abruptly turned and left.

Rocks obscured Typh's view. He wanted to see what was about to go down, but he couldn't move. After all that horrible aggravation he caused, he was too exhausted, afraid, and ashamed.


	11. Little Typhoon

11. Little Typhoon

"Are you okay?" Raios panted. "I heard you screaming back there."

He watched as the bird that used to be Lapras flew right by him, giving only a shrill cry as its answer. It headed straight for the monster in the water, with a wild look in its eyes. Raios backed away to watch the confrontation—far away, by the cavern wall. But it didn't feel far enough, and even floating around was becoming too strenuous, so after a wary moment he turned and retreated farther.

"Typh," Raios said as he joined him in the dry corner. "What the heck did you do to Lapras?!"

"Oh…" The Lugia had tears in his eyes. "All he wanted to do was keep me safe, and I… I told him he never did any of that. I told him he wasn't capable of doing the one thing he wanted."

They listened as the two large creatures exchanged roars and high-pitched shrieks. Soon the sounds of water torrents and electric bolts joined in, cacophonous in the vaulted space of the cavern. Occasionally a blinding flash of light would appear, dazzling Raios and Typh even as they hid behind the rocks.

"But he did take care of you… right?"

"Yes—yes he did," Typhus said, and then the sobs came. "He was so nice! But now… I turned him into another monster! You should've stopped me!"

"Hey." Raios landed next to Typh, who slumped on the rocky floor. He sort of knew what Typh had been trying to do. "It's okay, Typh. I heard the screaming, but I didn't stop you because you had a plan and I didn't. And it isn't the real Lapras, you know—just one in your head."

"I know, but it still sucks!" Typh wiped his eyes. "Raios, tell me again that this isn't real. I need to hear it."

"This world isn't real."

"I've been here for months… I did think it was a dream at first, but after sleeping and waking for so long, it just felt too real to me."

"You've only really been gone less than a week!" Raios had the feeling that, even though he'd spent half a day in Typh's mind, hardly any real time was passing. "I guess that doesn't matter right now. The fighting, though… that should be over soon," he assured. "Electric beats water. And then once that's over, we can get out of here." Or so he hoped.

"How do you even… what if the monster isn't water at all?"

"It's _in _the water, at least." They heard a humongous boom of thunder, and the cavern flashed bright as day. "Let me see how it's going." Raios snuck forward, inching past a rocky ledge. What he saw relieved him at first, but then—

"It's coming this way!" he stammered.

"The monster?!"

"The other—"

The bird stormed back to their safe spot, announcing itself with a triumphant cry. It swiped Raios aside and cornered Typh, drawing him in forcefully and sheltering the bewildered Lugia. It proceeded to snap in Raios's direction, as if telling him to stay away.

"It's still protecting me," Typh said helplessly as the bird sat down with him under its wing. "I mean… it's not attacking, but this won't end the rite, will it?"

"No…" Raios glanced over the water again. The monster that used to be Lanturn floated there, completely knocked out. "I don't know what to do now." He could stay where he was, at the edge of the water, with the bird eyeing him constantly—it seemed more than capable of trouncing him if he got too close. So he stayed put and took the opportunity to speak calmly to Typhus about an idea. "Typh, I think I get it now. You were conflicted about your father, so your unconscious split and appeared as Lapras and Lanturn."

"They _were_ pretty much opposites…"

"They sort of became monsters, but the plan is probably the same—we have to unite them somehow. The only way we can do it at this point is to defeat both of them." Raios gestured at the bird. "Once that guy goes down, I bet the unconscious will resolve itself."

"How do you know? What if it just starts all over? Or what if the unconscious never comes again at all?"

Raios suddenly felt less sure of himself, when Typh put it that way. "I… it's just a guess, I guess."

"Great. And I hope you don't want _me _to do the battling! I'll get obliterated!"

"It won't attack you, maybe."

"It might, if it figures out I'm easier to watch over when I'm out cold… and besides, I don't know any attacks. I wasn't supposed to train until after this."

"Because that's when you get your psychic powers?"

"Yes. I sorta wish I had them now…"

The black and yellow electric bird seemed content to roost there, undisturbed, with Typh on the rocks. Raios sighed. His injuries had really started to take their toll, and he felt faint, but he floated away with one last plan in mind. "Wait there," he said, weary of the cave and his exhausted Latios form and everything else. "I have a better idea." He decided not to tell Typh, because it'd get his hopes up way too high.

"Will do…" Typh actually felt pretty comfortable in the embrace of the huge bird—it seemed to have discharged all of its electricity, freeing its feathers of any static. They were even somewhat soft, and Typh felt warm in the bird's yellowy glow… but he knew it couldn't last. The protection was shallow, plain instinct. It was the bird's mindless objective—guard him forever.

And Typh had to return to the real world. Without Lapras or Lanturn to persuade him, he couldn't fool himself any longer. "None of this is real," he mumbled. The bird cooed and nestled Typh tighter, as if hushing his rebellious words. They could relax now that they were alone and safe, it seemed to suggest.

"Lapras?" Typh asked. He didn't expect a response, but he still tried. "Can you understand me?"

Typh's transformed caretaker snuggled him like he was its child. Maybe in some way, it did know what he was saying… or maybe not. Maybe it just liked his voice. Typh returned the affectionate gestures, not because he believed the bird really loved him but because he just missed feeling loved so much. Typh had a hunch that the bird was emulating his dad, who was what he really missed most of all.

"I'm… sorry," Typh said. "I know you're just a part of my mind, but… I still have to say it. I'm s-sorry, Lapras. You really did take care of me. You still are." Typh tried not to cry again—he felt like a baby for acting so emotional over made-up people—but he couldn't help it. All the stress of his spur-of-the-moment decisions caught up to him. He couldn't stop thinking that thanks to him, Lapras was no more. And Lanturn was gone, too. Typh had spent months in the company of those two, and losing them was just as painful as losing real companions.

"Thank you, Lapras…" He wept quietly, and the bird kept him snug—it seemed to be aware of sadness, at least.

* * *

Raios found a pocket of air and gasped for breath.

He had tried to memorize the path Lanturn took through the dark tunnels, but after all the fighting and repeated blackouts he couldn't seem to find his way. He pressed on, alone in the dark, following the ceiling in search of more air pockets. The passageways only diverged a few times, but one mistake and Raios would get completely lost. He took the risk, partly because he didn't know what else to do and partly because he'd give up soon otherwise.

He tried to remember the turns, hugging the wall in anticipation of the next fork. But the wall bent sharply, turning all the way around. He dived to the bottom and felt the wall everywhere—to his dismay, he found himself in a dead end.

Raios knew his directions would be all wrong after that. Running out of air again, he doubled back to look for a pocket—but a sudden surge in the water pushed him to the side. Confused, Raios ran into something heavy, or maybe it ran into him—it felt soft and feathery, like a bird. The inertia of the creature suggested that it was sizable, and it had probably blown Raios aside as it swam past.

And now he caught it returning from the dead end. Feeling the water flow again, Raios reached out and grabbed the creature, holding on for his life. There was no way of telling what it was when they were underwater and in the dark, but all Raios wanted was for the entity to know where it was going. At the very least it didn't seem to be too concerned about its hitchhiker, because it only prodded Raios a few times before speeding on through the water—and that filled Raios with hope.

But not air.

And on top of that, whatever he was riding seemed to have had enough after less than a minute of swimming. It pulled a flimsy, weak Raios away from its body, and pushed him… up… into a thin vertical shaft full of air. Raios could just barely squeeze inside it.

Raios gasped. "Thank you," he said to the darkness. "You saved me."

"Is that you, Raios?" Lugia said from beneath him. He must have stuck his head into the shaft, too. "I had a feeling that it would be you. Not that there are many others it could be."

"Lugia!" Raios cheered, before gasping some more.

"Don't waste your breath, friend. You sound ready to drop." He spoke quickly. "We can speak later. Do you know the way?"

"…No."

"Just as well. Take a deep breath, then. I will swim fast. Squeeze if you need more air."

Raios did as he was told, and Lugia pulled him back into the water, holding him as he swam. They moved more swiftly than before, and Raios worried about getting scraped into the wall—but Lugia seemed to swim perfectly, and he explored tunnel after tunnel with amazing precision. They only had to stop for air a couple of times before reaching the final tunnel—and Raios had the feeling Lugia hadn't needed a refill the entire time.

They entered the dim light of the spacious cavern. "How do you do that?" Raios panted as he surfaced. "It's like you can see in the dark!"

"I feel the water. These purple fins of mine are very sensitive to the currents." Lugia turned to show his back, where the fins stood upright. "That, and… my son's unconscious might be accommodating me. I would imagine it wants me to succeed, even though that one Lanturn disliked me so rudely…"

"About that." Raios grasped Lugia's wing to keep him from swimming ahead to look for his son. "I met Typh—"

"He's here, then!"

"Shh! Yeah, but… he had another manifestation with him. A Lapras."

"Ah. So two of his friends were there, not just the one."

"Right. Lapras believed in you, but not Lanturn. They got into a fight, and the Lanturn turned into a monster. It didn't talk anymore, and all that."

"Is it that Gyarados over there?"

Raios followed Lugia's gaze over to the monster, which still floated around in the water. It was the only clue that a chaotic battle had taken place. "Yeah, that's it. To defeat it, Typh had to turn Lapras into a monster too."

"And I presume that _that_ creature is still at large?"

"It's in the corner over there, where the light's coming from. It's guarding Typh."

"Oh. Good."

"But it'll fight anyone who gets near."

"If it knows what's good for it, it will recognize me. It should still be the part of Typh's unconscious that believes in me, and if not… then so be it." Lugia gazed at Raios intently. "I cannot ignore it anymore. You were attacked." He sank in the water until just his neck stuck out. "Please, let me carry you."

"It's okay…"

"I never intended for you to get so involved here that you would be wounded." Lugia shook his head. "I can tell that at any moment you'll keel over. Please, allow me."

Raios obliged, riding on Lugia's back, arms around the big guy's neck. He felt a little embarrassed, but he appreciated the ride. And it turned out that Lugia had been spot-on, because the next thing he noticed was that he was resting on dry rock. He had a good view of Lugia and the bird, who were there confronting each other, but everything went by in a haze. He struggled just to stay awake.

"May I have my son returned to me?" Lugia asked plainly. The bird twitched its head to the side, inspecting him up and down. Lugia let it have a good look before speaking again. "You have done well, but now I relinquish you of your responsibilities."

"Dad!" Typh cried. "You came back!"

"In a moment, my son. In a moment…" Lugia stepped forward, and the bird moved back anxiously. "You know I mean no harm." He crouched low, reaching out with his wings. "Come to me now, Typhus."

Typh pushed gently, and to his surprise the bird gave way. He glanced back at it and saw the tears in its eyes—and when it nodded slightly, Typh couldn't help giving Lapras one last hug. The bird took a deep breath and slowly turned him around, nudging him toward Lugia. Typh only took a few stunned steps before leaping all the way into his father's embrace. The black and yellow bird let out one last weak cry before flying off.

"Dad! I missed you!"

"You have been separated from me for far longer than I have been separated from you. But I also missed you very much, my little typhoon."

Typh hugged his father as close as he could. "I'm so sorry—"

"Oof! Not so tight!"

"I'm sorry about that, too!" Typh laughed.

"I'm the one who should apologize, son of mine." Lugia settled down, letting Typh sit in his favorite place—his father's lap. "Every fault lies with me. You were absolutely correct when you said that you are not my clone. I… wanted you to have the same enthusiasms as I had… and the same aversions."

"I know. It makes sense, Dad."

"But I shouldn't have lost my temper. You see, an insult to the sea… is like an insult to me. I—"

"You don't have to explain to me. We both know you just messed up, and it just happened to spiral like crazy out of control."

"I don't want you to ever think that you are at fault for any of this, my son."

"Dad, I think it's both our faults. Come on."

Lugia hugged Typh again, elated to have his son back. His outspokenness, the humor hidden in his words… Lugia loved all the ways in which Typh differed from him. If only he hadn't lost sight of that… if only he hadn't said those cruel words that night. They started to reverberate in his head—

"Forget what you said," Typh urged. "We're here to make up, aren't we?"

"Well, my son, have we?"

Typh broke free of Lugia's hug. "Not yet!"

"Oh. Do you mean you have more to say?"

"I just want you to know… that I don't really hate the sea. I just said that because… you hurt my feelings when you said I was acting foolishly."

"But I was the fool there," Lugia sighed.

"All I _know _is the sea, and when there's a whole continental mass out there waiting to be explored… the sea sort of feels boring in comparison! Know what I mean?

Lugia glanced at Raios, who was fast asleep. "I think I do." He suddenly knew how to make amends in full. "I… I would like to retract what I said to you before, even though I called it final! Now that you'll be training your powers, I will let you do the exploring that you've been wishing for. You can do both of those simultaneously, I imagine—"

"Yesssss!" exclaimed Typh. "Haha! I love you, Dad!"

"Oh, so you were withholding your love until now?!" Lugia said, shaking his son playfully. "What will you say to get _mine, _my little typhoon?!"

Typh laughed so sweetly that Lugia almost wanted to cry out with joy. "I'll… I'll catch you a huge fish! You always love those."

"That I do!"

"No, wait! I'll let you teach me Aeroblast! Even though I said I didn't want to learn before… now I do. A lot of fighting went on in this cavern while you were gone, and I felt so bad that I didn't know any attacks!"

"I see, I see!" Lugia chuckled. Everything suddenly felt right again. "Let that be our first endeavor when we return home."

"Do you mind if I join you guys?" asked Typh as he climbed out from the water. Except he wasn't the Typh in Lugia's lap! "I could use a rest." He carefully stepped over a snoozing Raios and bowed his head. "It's been a long day today."

They quickly formed a small circle to admit the newcomer. Typh gaped at his doppelganger, while Lugia nodded with respect. "You are welcome to join us," said the father. "In fact, I believe you need to."

"Thanks. I'm glad I know that I'm Typh's unconscious. I guess we have you and Raios to thank for that."

"If you two would like to discuss privately, I can indulge in a swim for a time," Lugia offered. He thought of how he had been one-on-one with his own unconscious, and he felt that Typh needed that as well. "Yes, I will leave you alone for a while. Thank you in advance, Typh's unconscious." He stood up, smiled at his twin sons, and reentered the pool, letting himself relax in the no-doubt pure water. He dived, exploring the cavern's depths and moving to the far side of it at the same time. As he surfaced, he looked around—both the Gyarados and Zapdos were gone, as he had expected.

* * *

"Does this mean Lanturn and Lapras are gone?" Typh asked. He sat very close to his unconscious self, and it felt like he was staring at his reflection. "I mean… Raios's idea was that you split into them."

"Yes. So I'm both of them, in a way." Typh's double smiled. "I'm proud that you did what you did. It worked out. I don't have any hard feelings."

Typh glanced around all of a sudden. "Wait. If Lapras is gone, where is this light coming from?"

"I hoped you wouldn't notice! I'm more in control now, so I sort of cheated. The light's not coming from anything."

"Wow. Cool. I still can't believe you're also me!"

"The feeling is mutual, Typh."

"Thanks, Typh!"

The two of them laughed, sounding exactly like each other. "I knew your father would come through," continued Typh's unconscious.

"Don't you mean _our _father?"

"Sorry, I was thinking as Lapras there. But seriously… now I can tell you what I want to say."

"Huh? What is that?"

"I don't know what you experience day to day, because I'm beneath the surface of your mind. I can't even really describe how _I_ work, because I'm just the spokesperson. But I do know how I feel, and how that relates to you. I know how curious you are. I know how much it pained you to hear the disapproval of your father. You always want to impress him, huh?

"You're afraid, childishly afraid sometimes, of fearsome things that you see or know. The unknown, on the other hand, doesn't bother you at all. Am I doing okay so far?"

Typh nodded.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is… you're lucky. Many people dread change and the unknown. Dad is one of them, even though you're helping him along. But you, you're free of that. Change is what makes the world so interesting, and… your biggest flaws can be your greatest strengths and… oh… I'm sorry, I haven't practiced this at all!" Typh's unconscious self slumped. "I hope I'm not just spouting vague morals here."

"It's okay." Typh hugged his counterpart. He wanted to hug everybody, he was in such a good mood. "I think I've got it, between you and Dad."

"One last thing. I know you're worried that you're not ready to grow up. But you are, and you still have some time before it all happens." The two of them started to glow together. "Oh! It must be time for you to go."

"Don't you… shouldn't I tell you about the real world? Dad told me once that you would want to hear about it."

"I think I'll pass. I've already heard plenty from when you related things to Lanturn and Lapras."

"Thanks for everything!"

"You only have yourself to thank. No, really." They shared a laugh again, and started to glow brighter. "I'm pretty sure you can come back here. Maybe next time things won't be so dramatic! We can have some fun!"

"Okay!"

"Good luck out there! It sounds really unpredictable and chaotic."

"It is… but it's amazing."

A rush of light blinded Typh, and he became incredibly lightheaded. Everything quickly faded away, and as Typh gazed into the blankness he thought he could see Lapras swimming in the void.

"Lapras?! What's going on?"

"Shush," Lapras snickered. "You're just in a bit of a reverie right now. Aren't you lucky you didn't get Lanturn?"

"I just want to go back to the real world already! When is this going to be over?"

"Oh. Right about n—"


	12. Full Health

12. Full Health

Still lightheaded, Typh cracked open his eyes and saw a pretty-looking, upside-down room. He was lying belly-up, so what looked like a comfy padded ceiling was actually the floor. Directly in front of him slept a human, and to the side… a dragon rested its head, snoring lightly. He guessed it to be a dragon, anyway. It had definitely lain down side by side with Typh—hopefully it wasn't yet another animal determined to stand guard over him. Bending forward, Typh sat up to get a better look.

He immediately regretted it.

Muscles that hadn't moved for days protested with aches at the sudden action, and everything felt stiff and dry and sore in general. Some of the more severe injuries still hurt—they were months old to Typh, but he could still remember getting some of them, like the big gash on his leg.

But his wing… something bad must've happened to his left wing while he was out, because it was in a large, inflexible covering. He wondered if it was broken, and if it would mess up his swimming and flying for a while to come. A grim curiosity made him want to undo the wrapping and look at the wing, but he resisted.

Typh groaned faintly in self-pity, knowing any excessive movement would amplify his discomfort. It disheartened him that he was so frail all of a sudden, but at least he was cared for and all the unpleasant stuff was covered up.

So maybe he wouldn't stand up just yet, lest he wreck himself. Typh carefully turned around to look at the sleeping dragon instead. It was definitely a winged dragon, but not the Dragonite one from Dad's stories. It was blue and red instead of orange, and Typh thought it looked cool—though he found it a bit funny too in its bulkiness.

The fact that it slept at all, and so closely too, made Typh conclude that it was probably a super-friendly pet that liked him—which meant he didn't have to worry about it at all. But it did kind of make him worry about the humans who owned it. What if Typh was a pet now as well? The thought worried him, but he put it aside because he couldn't answer it yet. He could ask the dragon later if it woke up and felt like talking, but there was no way he'd disturb its sleep just to ask it a few questions.

Typh wondered instead where his dad was, along with Raios the Latios. They had probably entered his mind from far away, and Typh wished he knew if they were coming to save him now in the physical sense. Or did he have to escape on his own? He felt his head with his free wing—it still felt woozy. Standing up was probably still not the best idea, let alone wandering out of the padded room.

The dragon started to stir slowly from its sleep, raising its wings and flexing its tail with a gaping yawn. It seemed to gaze into the distance lazily for a few seconds, before noticing Typh—and then it _really _woke up.

"Typhus!" it greeted warmly, nosing Typh's side with gentle push. Typh recoiled a little, and the dragon noticed. "Ha! I completely forgot to tell you! I, the dragon before you, am none other than your father. And that human is Raios. We both took these forms so we could search for you without causing a stir among the unknowing humans."

"Really?!" Typh inspected the dragon again, and laughed. "You're… you're not even as big as me! That's pretty small for you!"

"That may be—but remember your place, my little typhoon." The affectionate epithet sounded weird coming from the dragon instead of Lugia. "I am still your father, even though at the moment I am this Salamence."

"How did you do it, Dad?" Typh asked, enthralled. "You're telling me you can transform, in real life?"

"Absolutely. To become this dragon, I first had to become smaller—a technique I discovered myself—and then I had to change form. I learned that from Raios. Both methods are psychic tasks requiring great skill."

"You two better teach me those things! Wow!" Typh had had no idea that mental strength alone could do such things.

"Maybe after you work substantially on your psychic abilities—oh, that reminds me!" Salamence leaned forward. "Do you feel it? Your psychic energy?"

"Oh. I don't know. I feel kind of dizzy, if that's what you mean."

"It's not. You still have to grow accustomed to the power. I will assist you later, but for now… we must focus on returning home." Salamence gazed at his son and sighed. "It may be a challenge, if your injuries have not healed enough."

Typh gave a wild suggestion—"Shrink me and carry me home!"

"I cannot do it to anyone other than myself," chuckled Salamence.

"Aww. It was worth a shot."

"How do you feel, truly?"

"Really sore. And dizzy. Oh, and really hungry. And dried out too."

Salamence felt some hunger pangs himself. "Let us attend to your needs, then, since I am sure that they haven't been met adequately for days." The dragon padded over to Raios, who was still peacefully asleep. "Wake up, Raios."

He didn't stir until Salamence impatiently pawed him in the face. "Whuh—Typh—Salamence!" Raios defensively grabbed Salamence's foot, looking flat-out confused. "Oh… is it over?"

Salamence licked his mouth. "Yes, and we're hungry."

* * *

Raios couldn't believe the Kimono Girls hadn't been kidding. "You have an indoor pool in your dance house?"

"Our dance _theater_, you mean?" Kuni tittered behind a raised hand. "Well, of course we have a pool. Where else would I train my Vaporeon?"

"At literally any other body of water," Typh teased. He was really enjoying that humans couldn't hear his words. "This swim is going to feel so good."

"This is a new expansion of ours, actually," Miki explained. She was one of Kuni's sisters, and though her Flareon wasn't too fond of the pool she enjoying swimming in it herself. "Saves us from long trips to the public one. And this one is always clean—we make sure of it."

"Can you dance in the water, too?" continued Typh, before his father quieted him.

"You three have it all to yourselves tonight," announced Kuni. "We're going out tonight, and you deserve it anyway."

Salamence instructed Raios to thank the girls for dinner, and when he did Kuni smiled and made a polite little bow. "It's our way of saying thanks for coming through with Lugia. You did it in such little time, too—only about forty minutes, I would say."

"I didn't think you were telling the truth at all, to be honest!" said Miki boldly.

"Where are your manners? You might offend either of the Lugia in our presence!"

"To be fair, I wouldn't have believed our outlandish claims either," Salamence said.

"Well, enjoy yourselves," Kuni said, bidding them farewell. She led her sister out of the room and slid the door shut behind them, giving Typh one last peek through the opening before it closed.

"Those Kimono Girls are nice," Typh declared. "I don't know why you didn't become friends with them, Dad. I mean, they're sort of your followers by tradition, so you could've at least returned the favor somehow."

"You know how I am about humans," shrugged Salamence. "I never let myself get close to any."

"Whatever—let's swim!" Typh would have bounded into the water, but at the moment an action like that just wasn't going to happen. So instead of busting something, he limped forward—

"Hold on!" bid Salamence. "We should remove your bandages first. Hold out your arm first, and I will… uh, hmm… Raios, could you help Typhus undress his wounds?"

Raios wasn't particularly interested in getting up close and personal with the stuff beneath the bandages, but as the only one around with hands he knew he had some sort of responsibility to do it. "Sure, I guess."

"Thank you." With that being taken care of, Salamence decided to try the water out. The pool had no slope to it, so he climbed in backwards. He tried to slowly lower himself into the water, but his upper legs weren't up to the task—so he plunged in. "Ah, how frustrating!" he gasped as he surfaced. "I'm not nearly as good a swimmer as Salamence…" He could only paddle, really, like a pitiful dog, using his wings for some added leverage. The pool was too shallow for anything else. "It's a wonder I caught a single fish that one night." He already found himself rather bored, as the pool had little to offer compared to the vast ocean.

"At least you can fly now without having to—ouch!" Typh yelped, still waiting to enter the water. Raios had just pulled off the largest bandage on his leg, revealing a large laceration that didn't seem fully healed at all. "Oh no, it's bleeding…"

He showed it to Salamence, who inspected the gash from the water. "It looks worse than it is. Be calm, my little typhoon," he said, comforting his son. A handful of bandages rested at Typh's feet like leaves beneath a tree. "As I look over you, Typhus… it seems that your wing and leg wounds are the only serious afflictions. Still, it is not wise for you to swim now. You are clearly still too wounded for much rigorous activity, and you'll dirty the water."

Typh sighed. "I don't even want to swim," he said. "It wouldn't be swimming, it'd be… floating around all lame. I wish I wasn't so hurt—I'm, like, pumped with psychicness, yet physically beat up. It sucks."

"I know an easy way to get healed," murmured Raios, "but Salamence won't like it."

"What?" the dragon asked, tilting his head. "What is it? Don't hesitate to tell me."

"The Pokémon Center. Typh can get healed up in minutes there, but for it to work he has to be in a ball."

"Oh." Salamence nodded slowly, and started to say something but stopped. He closed his eyes and thought hard for several seconds before asking, "Typhus, do you want to be healed sooner—"

"Yes!"

"But you will have to be captured…"

"I don't mind being alone again for a bit if it means I get to be healthy." Typh looked at Raios, knowing that he'd be the one in charge. "And I sort of want to see what's inside the ball, Dad. I trust Raios not to keep me trapped forever and ever."

"…I trust him completely as well. Okay." Salamence gave Raios a firm nod. "Let us head to the Pokémon Center."

Raios hadn't expected such an accepting attitude from Salamence, the one who feared getting captured most of all. "Thanks for trusting me so much, guys." He dug through his bag for a Poké Ball and activated it by pushing the button. Typh peered at the ball anxiously, so Raios explained, "When the ball touches you, it'll open and suck you in. It doesn't hurt, and the less you fight it the faster it'll settle down. I don't actually know what it's like in there, but… it must be okay, or else every Pokémon would resist going back in. That's what I think."

"Just do it," Typh ordered, indicating the least wounded part of his body. "Right here on the head."

Raios didn't bother throwing and just reached out and bumped Typh with the ball. Typh jumped a little when it clicked open, but once the capture sequence started he seemed awed by whatever he was experiencing. "Whoooooaaaaaaaa!" rang out his voice before it faded away. The ball sucked him in and gave one feeble twitch before settling.

Salamence watched it all happen with a determined face. "Lead the way," he said promptly, flying from the water and shaking himself off. "I want my son free from that prison as soon as possible."

"That's the Salamence I know," Raios teased, pocketing Typh and sliding open the door. The two of them found their way out of the dance theater and onto the streets, and from there the center was just straight across town. Raios offered to carry Salamence around in his ball and revitalize him at the Pokémon Center with his son, but the dragon quietly refused.

* * *

After a disorienting flash of light, Raikou found himself in a little metal cage.

"What the?!" He pawed at the metal cage in front of him. "Not a cage!" he bellowed. "This is my worst nightmare—other than the one where I'm glued to the ground. That one's worse."

"I'm in a cage too," murmured a dejected voice to Raikou's left.

"Entei!" Raikou turned and put his paws on the side of the cage, as if that would let him get closer. "I found you! Finally! You don't know how long I've been wandering around looking."

"You didn't find me, if you ask me," said Raikou's fiery analogue. "It's more like that human happened to find us both."

"No, I found him who found you."

"But he found you finding him after he found me—"

Raikou yowled. "Never mind!" He took a second to feel the bars of his cage—too sturdy for him to smash out, that was for sure. "How did he catch you, Entie?"

"Oh… I'm not totally completely positive. I think he found me sleeping."

"What?! Didn't you run away?"

"Uh, probably? I mean, I was asleep…" The lethargic Entei yawned, like their conversation had made him sleepy. "Oh, do you know where we are?"

"The old-school Ecruteak City?"

"Uh-huh. But more specifically… we're behind that one tower. The one that burnt down. You know, the one we came from."

"Yeah, of course I know." Raikou turned the other way, and there it was. A brand new building stood where there had totally once been a charred mess. It faithfully matched the imposing yet peaceful style of the other tower standing over the forest in the distance. "It _is _the tower! A coincidence?" Raikou challenged. "I think not! We're being—"

"What do you think we were like?" Entei asked. He never really reacted to Raikou's antics much. "I mean, before we were the three of us."

"I dunno. My guess is that we were pretty freaking awesome. Suicune's the pretty, I'm the awesome, and you're… well… I didn't think that one through." Raikou took a moment to seriously consider his origins, but he couldn't remember them at all. "Do you think Suicune knows?"

"Probably. I mean, she knows the most out of all of us. That's why she still hasn't been caught. She's even carefuller than you."

"It's funny, 'cause that purple freak's been hunting for her this whole time. We're like collateral damage, aren't we?"

"What's a collateral?"

Raikou snickered. "I missed you, Entie."

"If you say so…" Entei lay down and looked ready for a nap. "He's looking at you weird now."

Raikou turned around in what little space his cage afforded him. "Who—yeeeoow! Was he here the whole time?!" The purple guy couldn't hear Raikou's words, but he definitely picked up on his agitation. "I swear he's a magician!"

"I haven't seen anything magical, except the purple balls. I don't really like those." Entei growled halfheartedly. "They're boring inside."

"Now, now," the human said, noticing that his two prisoners were both riled up. He sat forward in his foldable lawn chair. "If you two behave, I'll reward you with some treats. How does that sound?"

"I heard treats," said Entei, but Raikou growled and summoned his electrical energy.

He vowed, "I'll give _you _a treat!" and prepared to shock the dude's socks off… but no bolts of sweet vengeance came forth. Something on his neck beeped instead. "What the… how did I get this collar?!"

"He probably put it when you were asleep."

"It's sucking away all my juice!" Raikou slammed against the cage, legitimately ticked off. "HEY! This isn't funny! You can't just steal my electricity like this!"

The human flinched. "Raikou is hardly as elegant as Suicune…" he noted. "Worse-tempered as well."

"Grrr! You'd be in a crappy mood too if _you _had a stalker on your sister's case for years and years! I hate you—why can't you just leave us alone?!"

"Aw Raikou, it's not so bad. I want to be free too, but it's not like we're being forced to fight or work or anything."

"Look at how bored he looks. He's just using us to lure the one he really cares about!"

"Uh-huh. Suicune will save us, though, when she comes."

Raikou stopped scratching at his collar. "I hope so," he said, before focusing his efforts on growling and glaring at his captor. If he were Suicune, he wouldn't risk getting caught—but the real Suicune was cleverer, if not as hilarious. If anyone had experience outwitting the purple loser, it was her.

* * *

The instant they were back at the Kimono Girls' pool, Salamence motioned for Raios to bring Typh back out. After the usual flash of light the young Lugia gave Raios a big hug, lifting him off the ground and squeezing him tight.

"Thank you so much, Raios!"

"You… really love… to hug people, don't you?"

"I feel great now!" Typh exclaimed, letting Raios go. "All of a sudden there was this warm light, and I healed up like magic! I'm still pretty pale-looking and lightheaded, but… what an awesome improvement." He poked at his cast on his wing. "This is just a leftover thing, right?"

His father reached for the cast and helped pry it off. "I'm pleased to see you in full health at last," he said once Typh demonstrated that his wing really was fine. "Now we may swim!"

Typh whooped and did a flip into the water, and Salamence followed him with a sprawling jump. The dragon belly flop that ensued—smack!—sounded like it hurt, but Salamence just laughed with his son and poked fun at his own bulkiness.

"Aren't you coming in, Raios?" Typh called after a minute. He had his wings across Salamence's back like the dragon was a flotation device. "Don't you like to swim?"

"Yeah, but I don't have swimming clothes or anything."

"…Why do you need _clothes_ to swim?"

"Uh… because I'm a human, I guess. Humans can't really go around without clothes. If I had clothes that wouldn't get messed up in the water I'd totally swim, but…"

Oblivious, Typh said, "I still think you can swim without wearing anything. The two of us aren't human, so we don't care. But if you really can't… why don't you just turn into something else? No offense, but you looked way cooler as a Latios—maybe you can be that, since it's actually who you are."

"Typhus," scolded Salamence. "Let our friend be and do what he wants."

"Sorry…"

Raios walked over to the pool and sat cross-legged at its edge. "I'd rather not do any psychic work for the rest of the night. My mind is really tired-out still."

"I am worn as well," added Salamence. "Clearly a mind dive is more strenuous for the visitors than the visited."

"I got beat up, too."

"That you did… I should apologize again."

Raios shook his head. "It was an adventure. You don't have to say sorry for that."

"That reminds me," said Typh, patting his father who still floated him around. "The bird! Remember a long time ago when I saw it for real?"

"Yes, I do. You want to know more about him, I take it."

Typh splashed back into the water and looked his father in the face. "I'm not still too little, am I?"

"Ha. You are not." Salamence looked distant. "Where to begin… well, I first met Zapdos in the skies over Kanto, before I had settled into the ocean. I was a little fearful of him, but in retrospect he was quite kind to have given me advice. He encouraged me to keep exploring.

"When you saw him, I was worried he would share with you the story of my tower burning down. I hadn't wanted you to hear any hint of that tale for a long while to come, so I let him pass overhead without noticing either of us. The worry may have been irrational… but it seems to have benefitted us."

"How?" Typh asked.

"You only saw him from afar, and when you were younger and smaller, so you remember him as quite larger than he really is."

"Oh, so that helped us back in my head."

"I'm sure even without Zapdos you could've done it, my little typhoon."

"Hey—can I be your _big _typhoon now? I'm not little anymore!"

"Hmm… but you're still not fully grown. There are still some things you must wait for, my typhoon."

Typh hugged his father, who sank into the water. "I guess that works for now."

"So what're we doing tomorrow?" Raios prompted. He felt a little left out, so he tried to talk. "We're not going home just yet, are we?"

"Correct. We have made considerable, heartening progress—but there's still the question of that Morty character. I worry that Ho-Oh is in trouble, if Morty really wants to encounter her. What motive would he have other than to capture? We must confront him tomorrow and convince him to abandon his pursuits."

Raios crossed his arms. "You're really worried about Ho-Oh? Even after she burnt down your tower?"

"Ho-Oh did what?!" Typh gaped. "You said humans burnt it down!"

Salamence threw Raios a helpless look. "I…well, I suppose now you're ready for the true story," he said. "I will tell you when we bed down for the night." With a sigh, he grasped for the edge of the pool—but his reach was too short, so he used his wings to help himself up. "Let us adjourn now, in fact, so we can wake early tomorrow."

"Here, I'll lead the way," Raios said absentmindedly. He wished they didn't need a human to fit in, because with his clothes and his Poké Balls… he didn't feel like he fit in with his two Pokémon friends.

* * *

"Jump… oh… nng…"

Typh stirred awake and glanced around the dark, padded room. He had risen from slumber again, except this time it was from a good old regular dream. In it, Typh and Lugia had switched roles—Typh had found himself catching fish for the little Lugia and teaching him to fly. Which was weird, because Typh didn't really know much about flying himself. He just knew that after a very early age it was impossible without some psychic help.

He lay awake for a while, listening to his dad's newly-acquired snoring. Though smaller and decidedly unfluffy, Salamence was just as cool as Lugia. It was just way tougher to cuddle him. Typh wondered if he was too old to cuddle his dad at all, but he figured he had no one to compare to. His generation was literally just himself, so he'd do anything he wanted.

Typh's thoughts wandered for a while, from his new psychic powers to Zapdos to Lugia's old burnt tower. The story that Salamence had told before bed had been pretty sad, but it seemed odd too. Since Typh was a bit too drowsy to give it a lot of thought, he got up to give cuddling Salamence another try. But as he went he noticed Raios in the corner, asleep facing the wall.

He still didn't know much about Raios, other than that he was a longtime friend of his father's and a powerful psychic. Was he lonely? Typh's dad had mentioned something about Raios's family way back… something about Raios leaving to search for them. Without asking—and asking was way too intrusive—Typh couldn't tell if Raios had found success. He had sure looked distant at the pool, that was for sure.

If he's lonely, we can be his family, Typh thought. He imagined Raios as his brother, and actually really liked the idea. It was perfect. Typh had to put it into action somehow, so he tiptoed over to Raios and curled up back-to-back with his pretend sibling. He resisted the urge to cuddle, and let himself plunge into some more interesting dreams.


	13. Gold and Silver

13. Gold and Silver

"What do you mean I can't come?!"

"You may have just been healed, my typhoon, but you are not any less conspicuous."

Typh sat on the wooden floor and pouted, knowing better than to argue with his father. Their last quarrel had been disastrous. "Can I stay in their pool at least?"

Salamence said, "Now that I've shown you what kinesis feels like, perhaps you can make use of this time and practice it. Only with training will you be able to move heavy objects such as yourself." Raios and several Kimono Girls watched as the dragon tried his best to throw an arm around Typhus. "You'll be very safe here."

"But I wanna adventure with you guys…"

"Today we are just going to speak to the human who unfairly took you to this place while you were unconscious. I don't think you will find it too interesting. For now you must stay hidden."

Typh knew a bunch of ways he could go with them, but they all required psychic skills that he lacked. The only thing he knew so far was telekinesis, and he couldn't even lift a coin. "When you put it that way… maybe I _should_ practice."

"You certainly should—it will make your next technique, open telepathy, reveal itself to you sooner. Will you practice diligently, my typhoon?"

"I don't know what you mean by open, but you're on." After a parting hug, Typh stretched out on the floor. "I'll be waaaaiting!"

"Remember, Morty shouldn't know that you've visited," Kuni said as Raios and Salamence headed out the door. "He told us to not let anyone see Lugia at all."

"Right," said Raios. "Thanks for letting us see him despite that."

The Kimono Girl nodded. "You still have the element of surprise, but not for long. Morty still thinks he has Lugia in his possession through us, and he wants us to bring him to the tower later today."

"Got it."

They left the dance theater, which still had a couple of hours to go before it opened. "Earlier, Typhus suggested that I bulk up by boosting my size before confronting any foes today," Salamence said outside with a laugh. He sniffed the damp morning air as Raios led him down the road to their first stop on the hunt for Morty. "I did consider it… but it's rather time-consuming to even initiate the process."

"It doesn't matter. I'm trying _not_ to get in any fights today."

"Ah, watching his psychic powers grow will be so exciting!" the dragon said. "We start so weak, Raios, unlike your kind… but with diligence our strength becomes great."

Salamence had spent a couple of hours in private with his son, teaching him about his newfound power. Raios had a feeling the privacy was more for reducing distractions than maintaining secrecy, so he asked, "How do you train him?"

"Every complex psychic action is a sum of certain fundamental abilities," Salamence said, happy to teach someone else that morning. He had spared Typhus the details, but Raios would certainly grasp them. "These basic actions, whether psionic or telethesiac, cannot be taught… they arise on their own when the time is right. Kinesis is always the first to come, but since Typh had not felt it yet we meditated for an hour in an attempt to draw it out."

If Raios really was stronger than Lugia psychically, Lugia still had it down to a science—whereas Raios just knew it intuitively. Maybe Salamence could teach him some things, too. "How did the meditating go?"

"I felt very empty without my psychic powers… or psypowers, as Typhus wants me to call them." Salamence laughed. "But my typhoon had been comfortable enough to fall asleep. When I nudged him awake, he described a peculiar little feeling in his mind—and I knew that it was kinesis. According to our tradition, I was then to donate a feather with which he could practice… but I have none, and Typhus insisted that a feather was too easy. We tried to skip it, but kinesis begins exceedingly weak, and my son eventually grew frustrated with his coin and pulled out one of his own feathers." Salamence looked sideways at Raios. "He envies you, because you were no doubt born a psychic and all of it is second nature to you. He told me sadly that he wasn't even as strong as a baby Latios."

"Aww! No, we're just different, that's all." Those differences—and all the training Typh still had to do to become a good psychic—hadn't occurred to Raios until now. "Is there anything I can do to help out?"

"Perhaps you can sit with us next time and encourage him."

"Okay." Raios wanted to talk about something else. "Speaking of differences… do you have any new ideas for why you can't be psychic in other forms and I can?"

"I have no new thoughts," Salamence said with a weak growl, "but I do have concern. When it comes time for me to transform back into Lugia, will I be able? I might need to ask for your assistance once again."

Raios waved it off. "Don't worry about _that_—you should already know I'm going to help."

"I suppose so, friend… thank you in advance, then."

"Uh, you're welcome in advance."

They walked along, meeting no one on the road, until they reached the Burnt Tower. Or at least, where it used to be. A brand new structure, free of its construction scaffolding, stood in its place. Salamence gazed up in awe, his eyes glimmering.

"It's exactly as I remember…" he said fondly. "They reproduced my… my tower. It is here again."

"It must be like seeing an old home."

"That is exactly what the tower was to me." Salamence wanted to fly straight up to the top, but a brightly-painted sign draped above the doorway caught his attention. "What does that say?"

"Grand opening and dedication ceremony tomorrow."

Salamence laughed. "And I was not invited?"

"Well… maybe your son was going to show up. Maybe that's what Morty wants to do!"

"I thought Morty wanted Ho-Oh. Why would he arrange any of _this_?"

"I guess we'll have to ask him… hey, is that the guy we saw at the Gym?"

"I believe he called himself Eusine." Salamence spotted the man ducking behind the tower and tilted his head. "He looks rather suspicious. I will investigate him, whilst you ascend the tower."

"Don't you want to come too?"

Salamence gave the top of the tower another longing gaze, but shook his head. "I would rather wait until my son is with me. This is very… sentimental."

"Say no more." Raios went up the steps. "Don't get lost or anything… you're my only Pokémon."

"If you need me, just call telepathically. And… enjoy the tower. It's marvelous in every way."

"I wonder if they made it fireproof this time. Makes sense… what?"

After being treated to a long, icy glare, Raios apologized and disappeared inside the tower. Salamence soon wanted to apologize back—he had overreacted to what must have been just an innocuous remark—but his friend was already gone. After giving a little sigh in acknowledgement of his mistake, Salamence walked onward past the tower. The cool weather quickly restored his mood, and he walked slowly and leisurely, with his mouth open in a happy gape—one would have to be a fool to mistake me for a wild animal, he thought.

But lo and behold, the man in purple jumped as soon as he saw Salamence coming down the hill his way.

* * *

"Is that a wild dragon over there?" Raikou said. "It looks like it's coming straight for us!"

Unmoved, Entei uttered, "Most wild Pokémon don't wear collars."

"Oh, it must be that one Trainer's dragon," their captor said to himself from his cheap old chair. "The Salamence. What a relief—by the looks of it, I chanced upon the mildest dragon this side of Mt. Silver." He watched as Salamence approached, ready to spring if the dragon turned out to be hostile after all.

But it only whined anxiously, poking at Eusine's chair.

The human raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh my, are you lost?" The Salamence nodded and glanced backwards at Ecruteak City before whining at him some more. "I saw you just yesterday—well, I suppose you can sit there…"

The dragon seemed to brighten up a little, sitting between Eusine and the two caged Pokémon. It seemed rather interested in Raikou and Entei. "Feeling better, dragon?" Eusine said. "I'm glad I could ease your worries." He reached down and stroked the dragon's tail. It growled.

"Hands off," Salamence snapped, swinging his tail away from the human.

Raikou guffawed and greeted the dragon from his cage. "I knew you weren't so mellow after all!" he said. "So, um, who are you?"

"Right now, I am Salamence." He gazed at Raikou and Entei solemnly, knowing that his words would sound absurd to them. "But my true identity is Lugia."

"Lugia?" repeated Raikou. "You mean Lugia the psychic flying somewhat-bird thing? The Lugia who used to be here in this town? The Lugia that's huge and white and… not a dragon? _That _Lugia?"

"…Yes. I can use my psychic powers to—"

"Hahaha! You must be into that thing people do. What's it called—role-playing! Yeah, roles! If you're gonna be Lugia, then I'll be… oh! I've always liked Skarmory! I'm a Skarmory! Keeee!" Raikou reared up to spread his make-believe wings, bumping his head on the cage's ceiling. "Yeeow!"

Salamence disapproved of his levity. "I am not playing a role in words alone. You must believe me—as Lugia, I am psychically able to transform my body."

"What would you even be doing as a fat dragon?"

"I am broad, not fat! And I took this form as a disguise, so I could search for my son without drawing unwanted attention. He went missing after the recent terrible storm."

Entei sat up. "Oh… I hope you find him."

"Thank you, but I have already."

"Oh."

"I recognize you two. Many years ago, you fled as the tower behind me turned to rubble. The original tower, that is."

"Hi. I'm Entei. I trust you, Lugia." Entei threw Raikou a defiant look.

Raikou didn't know whether to side with Entei or his own reliable, always-right-sometimes gut. "I'm Raikou… I'm not actually Skarmory."

Salamence nodded like he was entertaining a child. "That much is clear. Now, for the question I have been meaning to ask… why does this human have you two in cages?"

"He's a maniac," started Raikou with a growl. "First he caught Entei, and then he caught me when I was coming for him to rescue Entei, and now he has us both and—grrr! I hate cages! I really really hate them!"

"He wants the third of us," Entei said plainly. "Suicune. He's been trying for years and years."

Salamence looked at Eusine again, who checked his watch absentmindedly. The dragon snorted. "I would detest having someone like him on my tail for that long."

"Wait!" exclaimed Raikou. "I totally forgot! I saw a small-looking Lugia in his truck! I couldn't wake him up, and that's sorta how I ended up getting caught. That must've been your kid!"

"Yes, it must have. I'm sorry you got drawn into trouble."

Raikou looked puzzled for a second before saying, "Don't sweat it. It's not like this is all your fault or anything—it was the storm."

"…I suppose." Salamence sighed. "I wonder if Morty and this Eusine are cohorts. It seems unlikely that their mythical pursuits are uncorrelated, since you are tied rather closely to Ho-Oh…"

"Morty? I've heard the purple guy say his name on the phone a couple times. They probably talked to each other. But I dunno who Eusine is."

Salamence dealt out a withering stare. "Eusine is your captor!"

"Oh! A weird name for a weird dude, huh?"

"I worry that your presence here might somehow draw Ho-Oh to the city," explained the dragon. "That is what Morty desires. He, in all likelihood, took my son in an attempt to achieve that. Perhaps Eusine is working toward the same end."

"Nah, I'm pretty sure he's just Suicune's rabid groupie," Raikou mused. "What do you care about Ho-Oh, anyway?"

"I… she is like me in many ways. I may have my son back, but as long as Ho-Oh is also in danger we must stay. I owe her that much, if not more."

"That is very nice of you," Entei purred.

"Wish we could help," added Raikou.

Salamence smiled. "You _have_ helped—I followed Eusine here hoping to discover new information, and I have. Namely, it is that he has you two…" The dragon figured that Raios would come find him eventually, so he decided to bask in the sun until then and keep his two caged friends company. "I'm glad I found you."

"So am I!" Raikou nodded. "It's funny that we can talk right under Eusine's nose!"

Entei suddenly stood up as straight as his cage would allow and squinted. "Uh… what does Ho-Oh look like?" he asked.

"She is vibrantly colored, like a living rainbow—"

"Oh."

"—but when the sun is bright and shining directly on her, she can take on a marvelous golden appearance."

Raikou lifted a paw and stammered, "That thingy in the distance there looks like it fits!"

Salamence turned around and peered at the shining speck in the sky. "My goodness… if only it were closer or my eyesight keener."

"Is that Ho-Oh?" Entei continued asking. "I wonder if she's coming."

"I wonder as well. That skyward spark is too distant to identify." Salamence jumped to his feet, ignoring whatever the startled Eusine was saying to him. "I will fly to it and see," the dragon declared, rearing up and preparing to fly. "I must go now and warn—"

His voice cut off in pain—something extremely cold blasted into his side, causing stunning, intense agony. The bewildered dragon collapsed to the ground with a thud, hardly hearing Eusine's panicked calls. What he felt was no ordinary cold—it had been an ice-based attack! Ice was one of Lugia's weaknesses, and he had felt its terrible sting before… but as Salamence, it was even more devastating.

Steeling himself, Salamence rose to his feet—only to feel a chilling blow to his right wing that magnified his pain. Enraged and knowing that he had to strike back immediately or else face defeat, he tried to turn and face his attacker. But it was already too late—this time the intense frigidity spread through his whole body in seconds, and every part of him grew stiff and numb. He found himself stuck in his tracks, unable to move, and when even his breathing stopped he started to panic.

He struggled to fight the cold and move just an inch, to no avail. He had been rendered completely motionless. Someone called out… and colors moved in his vision… but Salamence couldn't make sense of his senses. They faded away, along with his anxiety, and then he felt and thought nothing at all. Caught like a statue in his half-turned pose, Salamence had frozen solid, his mouth hung open in a silent, desperate roar.

* * *

Raios panted his way onto the roof of the Brass Tower.

Maybe he should've asked Salamence for a quick ride before splitting up—it had been a long trip up many stories, and Raios had hurried his way up the many stairs in an effort to keep Salamence from waiting on him later. Still, despite his exhaustion… the inside of the tower had been beautiful, filled with intricate designs and even elegant statues and figures of Lugia. They represented the real deal beautifully and with great detail, even if they were a bit… slimmer.

Raios had half expected someone to find him and throw him out, since the tower wasn't officially open yet, but every floor had been deserted. So when he stepped out onto the tower's roof, it actually surprised him to find someone standing there, leaning against the railing and peering at the sky. He wore subdued tones, with a purple headband circling his blond head.

He heard the door to the roof slam shut—the wind was blustery that high up—and turned around. "Hey, I'd appreciate it if you didn't break something so soon," he said, more cheerful than concerned. "I could have sworn I locked the door…"

"Sorry." Raios reached the platform where Morty was standing and peered at the landscape stretched out in front of him—fields first, then a dense forest farther out. No wonder the towers had been chosen as roosting places… the view was incredible, and even though they were part of a city the roofs remained quite private. "Are you Morty?" Raios asked.

"Yes." He turned so that they were both gazing outward from their high vantage point—but he kept his eyes on the sky. "Are you Raios?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Lynn told me you were coming." Morty shook his head. "Do you see what I'm doing now? I hope she didn't make me out to be an evil person."

Raios frowned. "She didn't." He decided to go straight for the questions he wanted to ask. "So you helped build this tower for Lugia?"

"Well, it was my idea," Morty said with a smile. "Until now, everyone was content to pay their respects to that burnt scar. But I convinced some important people that a new tower would be the greatest monument to the old… and I filled them with the hope that Lugia would return at its completion."

"And you wanted to make that true, right? So you took Lugia from Lynn?"

"I brought him here, yes. Lugia appearing here again, at the new tower, after what—more than a hundred and fifty years? That would be the most impressive sight Ecruteak has seen for a long time. When both Lugia and Ho-Oh come back… it'll be perfect."

Raios didn't exactly feel comfortable standing there with Typh's kidnapper, so he skipped to the point he wanted to reach. "But Ho-Oh's the one you really want, right?"

"Did Lynn tell you that too?" Morty chuckled. "Or maybe not. Everyone must know how much I have been trying to encounter that rainbow legend. And look—there it is, in the distance." He pointed at a golden dot in the sky. "It really worked."

"…What really worked?"

"Let's be real here, Raios. There's no need to tease my schemes out of me, because I don't need to hide them. Since they're honestly noble, and nearly complete, I don't mind telling now. It sounds bad from Lynn's point of view… but that's just because she wanted Lugia to herself. Surely you don't think I'm being more selfish than she is."

"She just wanted to…" Raios blew some air. "Never mind. If you're so open about your plans, then go ahead! I'd like to know why it's so good that you took Lugia away from his home in the sea."

"It's simple. The sea isn't Lugia's true home. It's here, on this tower. When the original came down all those years ago… Lugia had no choice but to find a new home, and it chose to dwell in the ocean. Now that the Brass Tower is back, though, he can return. So I helped him along."

"But he was so hurt!"

"I know… but if I waited, Lynn would've just returned Lugia to the ocean. Or maybe she'd have held onto Lugia even harder once it was healed and I had no reason to take him." Morty shrugged. "Either way, Lugia would escape me, and then so would Ho-Oh. I tried to tell her my plans, but she could only see that I was taking her Lugia away."

"Wait." Raios stopped Morty before he could keep going on about Lynn. "What makes you think Ho-Oh will come because of Lugia?"

"Before Lugia went to the sea, it was a guardian of the sky just like Ho-Oh. They were a pair—gold and silver, fire and water. When Lugia moved to the sea, though, Ho-Oh felt the same kind of unrest, causing it to leave its home as well. I believe Ho-Oh is just waiting for things to be restored… it's waiting for things to be made right. And I've made them right.

"And even if that theory's wrong—Lynn kept pointing out my lack of evidence—even if I'm wrong, my friend Eusine is catching Entei, Suicune, and Raikou. I let him have three of the four Master Balls I've acquired over the years, because it's the only way he'll catch them in time." Morty chuckled to himself, probably at Eusine's expense. "Those three wanderers… according to legend, Ho-Oh gave them life. So maybe bringing them together could also draw Ho-Oh here. I don't know, but it was worth a shot. Eusine _really _wants Suicune anyway, and I owe him one for driving Lugia here.

"Oh and finally, there was the ideal I used to believe. The one that states Ho-Oh only appears to a worthy Trainer. I developed my abilities for a long time to that end, letting my position as a Gym Leader steadily train me, but after a while I realized something. Worthiness wasn't just might—it was inner strength, too. So I told myself if that one legend was true, then Ho-Oh was really looking for a pure-hearted person. And I think renewing Ecruteak's long-lost Brass Tower and bringing Lugia home counts as pure-hearted!" Morty beamed proudly.

"Not really, if you're doing it all just to get to Ho-Oh," murmured Raios.

Morty threw up his hands. "Whatever. That doesn't matter, because Ho-Oh really _is _coming, and right this way too."

"Thanks for telling me all that," Raios said. "I didn't really think you would."

"Don't tell me you're going to thwart my evil machinations, Raios. I know Lynn sent you, but look—what's at stake here? Everybody benefits, even Lugia."

"Did you know that you took the young one? You took Lugia away from his father."

"If that's true, I don't see why the father hasn't come to save him yet. And besides, the older one would be welcome to join its offspring up here. I wouldn't stop it."

Raios had to find more ways Morty was being destructive. "What about Ho-Oh? You're going to catch her, aren't you? That's what I'm the most worried about, I think."

"I am going to catch it. But—hold on! It's not like I'm going to use Ho-Oh in my Pokémon team. It'll live its life as it would normally! As far as I'm concerned, my possession of it keeps the powerful being from falling into less pure-hearted hands.

"And don't tell me I'm disrupting any natural balance. Studies have shown that it's not really true that catching a powerful Pokémon limits its power. Ho-Oh will be fine. And I don't really believe Ho-Oh or Lugia actually reproduce, despite what Lynn told me. It doesn't make sense. I mean, you need a male and a female, right? And there's just one Lugia. There isn't a breeding population, or whatever the term is Lynn said."

Raios wanted to spill out so many things to refute Morty, but he couldn't give up the element of surprise Kuni had mentioned. He wished Salamence was there to tell him what to say! "I… I think Ho-Oh needs to be free. You've done nice things, but… you're still not justified in catching these special, unique Pokémon. How do I know you don't want to catch Lugia too? Will you really resist the temptation to master them? It's a lot of power to put in one person's hands!"

"Do you think I'll turn into a tyrant or something?"

"Even if you don't… these Pokémon have a legacy. Who are you to disrupt it?" Raios turned his indignation on full blast, doing his friend Lugia justice. "Who are you to say you know what's better for Lugia and Ho-Oh than they do?"

The words seemed to move Morty, by his ponderous expression, but then he turned to his visitor with confidence. "Raios, you're overreacting! If I'm changing their lives at all, it's for the better! And they're just Pokémon!"

Raios stood back from the railing, irked by Morty's arrogance. "They're not just Pokémon! They're like us, even though they're wild! That goes with what I said about how they're unique—"

"What're you talking about? Are you saying that they're like people? What makes you think that?"

"N-never mind!" Raios just wanted to run away. "I'm going to stop you somehow!" he vowed like some sort of hero.

Morty's hands flew into his pockets.

"Oh, is that so?"


	14. Long-Lost Companion

14. Long-Lost Companion

Raikou whimpered faintly when he saw Salamence freeze up, but then he spun around in his cage.

"Why'd you do that, Suicune?!" he yelled.

The third of the trio—and Eusine's prize—leapt from the bushes and made her approach, her eyes trained on Eusine. "I thought you were giving me an opening by distracting that dragon," she said as she walked up to the cages. "He was guarding you, and you got him to rear up."

"He's a nice dragon!" Raikou sputtered. "He even says he's—"

"I couldn't see his niceness from afar." Suicune paused next to her brother. "Raikou, can't you be grateful I'm saving you from this person?"

"Well, I am! But look at him!" Raikou gestured at Salamence, who had a pained franticness frozen on his face. "You freeze people a little too well!"

"Hi Suicune," Entei said. "Here he comes."

Eusine bounded forward a step or two, but suddenly stopped—he wanted Suicune to come to him, he decided. "Suicune, at last we meet again," he called, pointing a little too dramatically. "Now you finally decide to challenge me!"

"You dolt," Suicune muttered. "I'm here to save my brothers from you. Cages? Really? That's a little last century…"

"Now I can prove myself," went the deluded human. "Hypno, it's time!"

Suicune watched warily as Eusine initiated a battle on his own terms. "Well, if you insist," she sighed, trotting forward. She could beat his Pokémon any day of the year.

Eusine's Hypno materialized a short distance away. "Insist what? Oh, whoa!" He pumped a fist. "It's Suicune again! Hey, remember me?"

"You were that Drowzee, weren't you…"

"How's it goin'?"

"I'm gonna have to trounce you again, unless you give up now."

"Very funny! You won't beat me if _I_ have anythin' to say about it!" The Hypno gazed at Suicune intently, but she had already averted her eyes. "Dangit."

"C'mon, use Hypnosis!" Eusine insisted to his Pokémon.

"I am, I am! Jeez, what do you think I'm tryin' to do? She—whoa!" Hypno dodged a quick blast of ice, stumbling as he did so. "Oh man, that was cold…"

Suicune taunted her opponent. "I'll never fall for your hypnotism, so you might as well quit!"

"So what if I can't hypnotize you?" Hypno called back. He dove to the side—just barely missing another frozen barrage—before clambering to his feet and grabbing Raikou's attention. "Hey you! Are you a cat or what?"

"Ignore him!"

"Hey!" Raikou turned and growled at Hypno indignantly. "I'm no cat! I'm one hundred percent electro-tiger, and… I wouldn't be, uh… going around… calling…"

Hypno held his pendulum up to his eyes, so it could catch Raikou's gaze. As soon as Raikou's head waved back and forth he said, "You're getting sleepy now… pretty freakin' sleepy—aaaaah!—oooow! Jeez!" A gust of chilled air blew him away mid-entrancement, briefly severing his hold on Raikou. With a pant, Hypno jumped up and brought his pendulum back, testing to see if he could still get Raikou from afar. "You! You've got keen eyesight, huh?"

"Yes… I have keen eyesight…" Raikou said in a monotonous voice, peering at Hypno's pendulum, following it with tiny movements of his head.

"Uh-huh. Okay, now you're extremely sleepy! I'm gonna count to ten, and you're going to fall asleep. Then—whoa, make that three!" He saw Suicune bounding toward him, so he said the rest of his commands telepathically in a rush and wrapped up his snooze session. "Onetwothree!"

Raikou yawned and immediately sank to the floor, snoring lightly.

"Perfect!"

"_I'm _your opponent," Suicune growled, before pouncing on Hypno and biting into him with frigid fangs. "Now freeze!"

"Not so fast!" Hypno grunted. He swung his pendulum and whacked Suicune in the eye, pushing her away as she whined in pain. Hypno brushed himself off. "Um, ouch. Cold. Great, now I'm numb on the outside too." Hypno put on a grim face, before laughing and snapping his fingers. "Just kidding."

Suicune crouched, ready to silence the yellow weirdo by encasing him in ice—but then a heavy dose of electricity attacked her from behind. She convulsed for a moment under the powerful voltage, and then as soon as it dissipated she turned to confront her brother.

Raikou growled back at her, baring his fangs and sticking his arms out of his cage in an attempt to get at her with his claws.

"You hypnotized him," Suicune panted, mortified. "You turned him into a beast."

"Good for me, huh? I'm no pushover now." Hypno glanced back at Eusine, who quickly stuffed in his pocket the remote control for Raikou's power-sapping collar. The human looked, sadly, unable to manage the three-way battle at all. "Who're you goin' to fight?" Hypno challenged.

"You, of course," snarled Suicune. "No one tampers with my brother!" She leapt from the path of another electric attack and fired the coldest beam she could muster at Eusine's Pokémon. Hypno deftly strafed to the side, the weaponized ice missing him by only an inch or two…

But the beam of ice hit his pendulum, which crackled and shattered into pieces, leaving Hypno with a frozen string in his hands.

"Wh—what?! No!" the yellow hypnotist cried, kneeling to the floor and scooping up the pieces of his prized possession. All good humor fled from his face. "My… my pendulum! No, no, no! You _destroyed _it!"

The triumphant Suicune said, "Don't make such a big deal out of a little trinket—"

"It's _not_ a trinket!" Hypno exclaimed, tears in his eyes. "It's my pendulum! I evolved, and there it was in my hand! It's practically a part of me, and you broke it into tiny… little… pieces! You don't know how much it means to me!"

"Poor Hypno," Entei said from his cage. "Say sorry to him, Suicune."

"…Why?"

The defeated Pokémon began to cry in earnest, not caring about any apology… and while Suicune stood there, taken aback by the emotion on display, Eusine withdrew him. "I'm sure pendulums are replaceable," he said quietly to the Poké Ball in his hand. "What a cruel way to vanquish my Pokémon, Suicune!"

"Hello? You're the one holding my kin hostage. Blame yourself." She hoped Eusine would be too offended to continue, but the human didn't leave. Instead he sent out a second Pokémon, determined to play out his long-awaited battle.

"Howdy!" said the Electrode who appeared. "What an honor to finally meet you, Suic—"

With an icy crackle, the Electrode's cheery grin froze in place, and the frozen Pokémon rolled down the grassy slope away from its Trainer.

"I don't have time for this," Suicune growled, advancing on the defenseless Eusine. "Go away before I freeze you too!"

Eusine backed away from her. "I… Suicune, what are you doing?"

"You think I need to play by your rules? No. I was entertaining you before, but now my patience has run out. You've stalked me for long enough now, and capturing those two was the last straw!"

"Are you d-done testing my strengths as a Trainer?" Eusine produced a ball that matched his purple outfit and took aim. "If so, then let me finish by catching you!"

"Watch out!" Entei hollered. "It's impossible to get out of those ones!"

The ball flew at Suicune, who jumped into the air and shot the sphere with yet another icy beam. The deflected device landed on the grass, and if it still worked it was at least far from anything it could catch.

"You can't do that!" Eusine pouted.

"I can do anything I want!" Suicune lunged at Eusine, sending the two of them to the ground in a short-lived wrestle. Eusine lacked either the strength or the will to fight the Pokémon of his dreams, so in seconds Suicune was standing over the human like a predator over her helpless, pinned prey. "Without your Pokémon, you humans are pretty weak."

Eusine sighed, still somewhat oblivious of Suicune's fury. "I knew it wouldn't work…" he said with the tone of a confession. "I shouldn't have bothered Morty… you must think badly of me, Suicune. I got more and more desperate to find you…"

"I liked you for a while," revealed Suicune. "Until I went up to you, and you threw out a Drowzee to battle me. You went on about… catching, and that's how I knew you weren't a friend."

"I'm sorry, Suicune… look at me, apologizing to a Pokémon. No, it's necessary. If I were you, I would hate Eusine too."

"Well, I don't _hate _you…" Suicune eased off of him a little. "You're just crazy, and I wish you'd stop bothering us."

Eusine looked Suicune in the eyes, as if for the last time. He pushed her paws from him, freeing himself. She didn't resist, because she hoped he would recant and free her brothers.

But after a few tense seconds of trembling, Eusine turned and ran, up the hill and away from everybody. He paused and turned to withdraw his frozen Electrode from afar before returning to his sudden escape.

Suicune watched him depart, until Entei said, "That was kinda weird."

"I think we've made progress with that guy," Suicune said, finally able to relax. She walked back to Entei and Raikou, before groaning in exasperation. Raikou was still eyeing her like an enemy and trying to claw her through his cage. "The hypnotism didn't wear off!"

"Grraaawr!" went Raikou.

Entei nodded and explained matter-of-factly, "That's what you get for ruining that poor Hypno's pendulum."

"That just happened, okay?" Suicune smothered her guilt about that and glanced from one prisoner to the other. "These cages… they have no doors! How did he even get you in there, Entei?"

"He sent us out into them."

"Sent out? You mean he _caught _you two?!"

"It's not the end of the world, Suicune."

"You could've told me that before letting the guy get away!"

"Haha, now _he's _the one running off." Entei raised a paw and considered their situation before saying, "I think you're forgetting about someone." He nodded toward a certain dragon, still frozen in place off to the side. "Move out of the way so I can shoot some fire."

"Are you sure he wasn't guarding you?"

"He was guarding us, but in a very good way."

Suicune nodded—for all his aloofness, Entei could still surprise her sometimes with his words. She knew he was right, and when he shot a long trail of fire and warmed the dragon back to life she actually felt bad for freezing it in the first place. She was sure that it was exceptionally weak to ice.

The dragon stared blankly for a few seconds before everything caught up to him. He yelped in surprise and glanced around before regarding Suicune with more than a little trepidation.

"Suicune. I'm no enemy," he said with a shiver, keeping his distance.

"Don't worry, I figured that out." Suicune pawed the ground, as if it would be easier to speak her next words to the dirt. "I'm sorry that I froze you. I thought you were keeping watch on Entei and Raikou."

"He's Lugia," Entei said, obviously pleased to hear the apology. "You froze _the _Lugia! He transformed into a dragon to save his son."

"That sounds… crazy. Like something Raikou would say."

Salamence nodded. "I know, but… at this point, it bothers me not if you choose not to believe me." He looked to the sky and could just barely make out the golden figure of a bird in the distance. "You fended off that Eusine, correct? I fear that I missed any opportunity for intervention of my own—I must go now!"

"Wait!" Suicune cried. "Help me free these two! The cages don't have doors!"

"Yes… you'll need their capturing spheres in order to rescue them. You should hurry and find that purple man. Now, I—"

"And Raikou was hypnotized into a wild animal!"

"…I had been politely ignoring all of his snarling."

"You're a psychic, right?" Entei said. "You can fix him!"

"Be that as it may, I am not particularly knowledgeable about hypnotism." Salamence walked up to Raikou's cage, and the one hundred percent electro-tiger directed his animosity at him with growls and scratches. "It's a rather good thing that that collar still functions."

"Graaawr! Rawr!" Raikou agreed or disagreed, pressing his face into the cage.

Salamence had no psychic remedies at his disposal, but he knew hypnotism was basically the insertion of a fragile mind state that needed to be shaken out. So he swung around as quickly as his frame would allow, slamming his powerful tail into the side of the cage with the force of an attack. The energy of the blow more or less transferred directly into Raikou's skull, making the tiger yelp and fall back on his haunches.

"What a complex technique," observed Suicune with a little laugh.

Raikou whined sharply. "Whoa, headache. What happened? Where'd that yellow therapist go?"

"You were entranced," Salamence said, leaving the rest of the explanation to Suicune and Entei. "You three, I am glad that you are here and in no trouble now, but I am needed elsewhere and it is urgent. I will return here later to sort things out if you still need assistance." The dragon took off into the air after hearing two and a half farewells, rising straight up to check the top of the Brass Tower.

It looked just like it had so many years ago—but no, Salamence could not take it all in just yet. He only briefly glanced over the roof, and to his surprise no one was there. To where had Raios gone? It was intriguing that he hadn't come down to meet Salamence, but even more pressing was Ho-Oh's approach… so he flew off to intercept her, hoping that he'd find Raios soon somehow.

* * *

"Hey! Hey, Ho-Oh!"

A cry from below interrupted the golden bird's absentminded humming. Her soft notes fell silent as she cast her gaze downward, looking for the person who had the guts to confront her instead of just ogling from the ground. She wasn't nearly as imposing as her appearance made her out to be, and she looked forward to praising the visitor for his boldness. Maybe they could share a friendly conversation—and if the visitor proved unpleasant, well, she had faith in her ability to fend him off.

She tried to remember the last time she'd spoken to somebody… but it dawned on her that she had been alone ever since she left her tower that fateful night. She didn't _feel_ lonely, per se… bored was more like it. No one to talk to. No one to teach, and no one to learn from. No one to share a laugh with, or some brave ideas. No one to call a friend. No one to confide in, as friends do…

Okay, so maybe she felt a little lonely.

But there hadn't been anything she could've done to change that. Unlike every other creature in the world, she had no family. And her one friend had run away…

Her thoughts flew down a familiar path—how could her search have turned up nothing? Had it been because she'd chosen after a few years to fly at night, where no one would gawk and point up at her from the ground? It had been a safety measure, to evade those keen trackers who seemed intent on following her movements. But in doing so, had she missed her target? What if her searching far and wide still hadn't reached to where Gale had fled?

Over six hundred seasons had come and gone… with no luck. Though her travels had been interesting in their own right, they had also been exhausting, and the hopeless search had drained all of the happiness from Ho-Oh's day-to-day existence. Or night-to-night, she thought with a sigh. Her heart felt heavy after quitting her long quest, but she hoped to find comfort in her old home. Hopefully they still knew her there. And hopefully they welcomed her back.

Ho-Oh had become so lost in thought that she didn't notice the figure flying at her side until it called out to her again. "Ho-Oh?"

"Ah! Greetings," Ho-Oh said—before snapping her beak shut. After over a century and a half of no talking, she had forgotten the sound of her own voice… and it briefly took her by surprise. She couldn't tell if it had changed over the years—and maybe it was a wonder she could still talk at all. "I momentarily failed to see you there."

The little Lugia gave a shaky smile when he heard her speak. "Can we stop and talk for a minute?" he said over the wind.

"Of course we can, and we should, and we will," Ho-Oh said, still a little unaccustomed to how she was sounding. "I'm rather impressed by your boldness! Everyone else only watches from afar, and… believe it or not, I'm not so… unapproachable… I'm…"

"Uh—"

"Lugia?!" Ho-Oh squawked suddenly, stopping in midair. She finally realized who she was talking to! "Am I—am I seeing falsely? Is it really you?"

"Yeah!"

Ho-Oh's heart leapt to the sky… but then it sank again. The shockingly-small Lugia, wandering alone at his dependent age, could only mean one thing. "Now, little one, I know why you have come to me," she said as she drew close, humming mournfully. "It is a dreadful thing, I know… but such is life."

"What?"

"I know nothing of what your father has said of me," Ho-Oh continued soothingly, "but I was a friend of his."

The Lugia looked unconvinced, even suspicious. "You were?" Maybe he had heard unsavory things about her.

Understandable. But she would still try. "Yes, and if you feel lost… you can look to me for support. My home is even open to you, if you would like to live under my wing. I cannot replace your father, I know, but I promise you that life will become happy again. And I will support you as if you were my own." That briefly reminded Ho-Oh that she still had no offspring to _call_ her own, but that could wait. "I am much like you, and you will find no better guardian in the world."

"Wait…" The Lugia looked utterly puzzled for a moment before saying, "Hey, my father's not dead!"

Up soared Ho-Oh's heart again! "Oh, he is alive?! Why—where is he, then?"

"In Ecruteak City… wait, don't—"

"Excellent, I was just headed that way! Oh… I see now! That second tower is no mirage—he has returned!"

"No, that's not it!" The little Lugia flew in front of Ho-Oh before she could fly off. "It's a trick! There's a human who's trying to catch you!"

"I imagine that plenty of humans would love to make me theirs—"

"But this one really can! He has these special balls that you can't get out of!"

"Nonsense! Long ago I have proved to the humans that no device of theirs can contain me." The fact that humans couldn't take control of her was why she could live peacefully on a manmade tower in the first place.

"Trust me… technology has advanced since then. They can catch you now!"

His persistence surprised Ho-Oh somewhat. "How similar you are to your father… what is your name, little one?"

"Typhus."

"Young Typhus, you do not comprehend how keen I am to see your father. I have been looking for him for over a hundred and fifty years! And knowing that he is here, at our old home… it fills my whole self with joy, and impatience to match. So please understand me when I say that I do not _care _if I am in danger of being mastered by a human. That is the least of my concerns!"

"You… were looking for him?" Typhus asked incredulously. "That long?!"

"Yes, and he was nowhere to be found—until now! Can you imagine my desire to see him this very instant?" Ho-Oh tried to move onward again, but Typhus kept blocking her way. "Please, little one. You are young, and though you mean well… you don't understand the forces that compel me so. Home awaits. A long-lost companion awaits, and so does reconciliation. You cannot stop me from seeking what I desire." An idea occurred to Ho-Oh. "Let us go together to my roost, in fact. I will show you that humans are not to be feared… and once we arrive, your father will no doubt notice my presence and appear to me. Since you worry about my safety more than his, I must assume that he is currently in hiding.

"Yes—you should accompany me. You will be safer. Humans may not worry _me_, but a tyke such as you could be easily overpowered by them."

Typhus groaned. If he couldn't stop Ho-Oh… maybe he could at least be there when the inevitable fight broke out between her and Morty. "Okay, I'm coming with you. But only because you're huge and stuff and I can't do anything. And because you're right… about being safer." Maybe he did need to have some faith in the bird, with her centuries of experience.

"Yes, that is as valid a reason as any to concede. Thank you. I hope there are no hard feelings between us." After all, she still wanted to earn his friendship.

"Hard feelings…" They had only argued for a minute or two. "I guess there aren't…"

As they flew together, with Typhus's frantic little wingbeats and Ho-Oh's slow, broad ones, the Lugia said, "I'm sorry I got in your way. It's just that… Lugia is worried about you."

"He is…?" Amazement washed over Ho-Oh—the worry was mutual! "See how shocked I am? It's imperative that we see each other and settle things."

"I don't get why he cares so much," Typhus confided. "I know you want to reconcile and stuff, but you still burnt down his tower."

Ho-Oh squawked.

"I did _what_?!"


	15. The Aurous Trial

15. The Aurous Trial

"So you left that one Master Ball behind?"

"Yes! It had been deflected, and there was no way I would take my time to get it with Suicune still there."

"Those balls are extremely hard to get a hold of…"

"I know. But it's fortunate that I left quickly, because I would've missed you otherwise."

Eusine followed Morty up the steps of the Bell Tower, their steps altogether too hurried for the serene interior. On any other day the ascent would have been a relaxing climb, but now Morty and his friend had to hurry to the top. The faster they went, the sooner Morty would encounter Ho-Oh, and the sooner his dream would be realized. The sooner he could relax, and the sooner a new chapter of his life could begin.

It sure felt like destiny, Morty thought.

He hoped his team was up to the challenge… because there was no turning back. Soon he found himself reaching for the door to the roof, and he and his friend stepped out into the warm daylight.

"There it is," Morty pointed. "Ho-Oh!"

Eusine shaded his eyes and got a good look at the golden bird in the sky. It looked even more powerful than Suicune… and Suicune had made a fool of Eusine. Good thing Morty was a better Trainer.

But Eusine saw another, surprising Pokémon out there too. "Is that _Lugia_ a ways behind it? Or is it… beside it? How did it get there?"

Morty noted with a bit of regret that he hadn't checked up on their captive Lugia even once—he had been too busy finishing up its tower. Later that day, the Kimono Girls would bring it… but not if it was already coming somehow. "Does it look like the Lugia you transported?"

Eusine murmured his ambiguous answer, making the question useless. "I suppose it could be. There is only one, right?"

"…Maybe."

"If that _is _the one I brought, I don't know how it got free from the Kimono Girls," Eusine insisted. "But it doesn't matter, because it's returning to you with Ho-Oh! You could catch either of them, if you wanted to." Morty had pulled everything off flawlessly… and it made Eusine feel foolish with all his mistakes. "I messed up with Suicune," he said, satisfying his need to talk about them. "It cannot be fooled—it saw the selfishness that had recently crept up inside me. I shouldn't have even tried." When Morty shrugged, he sighed and concluded to himself that he wasn't as worthy as his Gym Leader friend after all.

Eusine had never really needed support from anyone until now… and Morty would give as much as he needed. "You should always try," he started. "And you even tried something gutsy. If Suicune isn't impressed by that, then it should at least see how legitimately sorry you are."

"But… I wasn't fair. I threw the ball even though Suicune beat most of my Pokémon. It looked so fierce…"

"If Suicune is as honor-driven as you're making it out to be, then you shouldn't underestimate the importance of a sincere apology. Maybe it'd accept it."

"Even the calming of its rage toward me is something to hope for… yes, I should go back!" Morty chuckled as Eusine's uncharacteristic look of melancholy and doubt vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. He looked ready to turn around and head straight back for that Suicune. "I'd have to go all the way back down this tower, but… at the very least, I feel obligated to go retrieve your Master Ball."

"Yeah, go," encouraged Morty. "The rest up here is just up to me either way."

"Good luck!" Eusine turned to leave. "Oh, and… do you happen to know where I could obtain a spare hypnotic pendulum?"

"…No?"

"Don't worry about it then. _Somewhere _in town there should be a shop or something… my poor Hypno…" And then Eusine left, shutting the door behind him. Suicune must've done some crazy things to his Pokémon.

Morty stood alone on the roof, grateful to be the only human around. His encounter with Ho-Oh just wouldn't have been as personal if Eusine had stayed.

He watched the bird of legend, imagining his father's reaction if he were standing next to him that very moment. "You bothered a few people, son," he'd say, "but every action a person takes will bother somebody. I'm proud that you are one of the lucky few who get to realize their truest dreams… with little to no sacrifice or decay of integrity. I hope." And then his father would break the sudden solemnity with a deep laugh and add, "You're still going to train with me, even if you catch that sacred Ho-Oh. _I'll _show it what it means to be tough!"

But it felt a little self-indulgent to daydream about praise from a person past… he had to focus on the present, or else his dream could slip from his grasp even after so much progress.

He observed the Lugia flying just behind Ho-Oh, since it had been completely unexpected. It indeed looked smaller and therefore younger than most accounts of the Pokémon. In fact, it looked like Ho-Oh was guiding it like a parent with its youngling.

It didn't really matter if Raios was right about the Lugia having a parent, Morty decided. He only wanted Ho-Oh… so Raios had been like a crazy negotiator, demanding the release of hostages Morty hadn't even taken. No, Morty's plans had been good for Lugia—he had given it a new place to live! He'd given an old place back, actually, and that was just as wonderful.

Raios should've been happy, as happy as Morty was. And relieved, too, since the storm had proved that the tower was much safer for Lugia than the ocean. But Raios apparently saw something Morty didn't, something that had not been adequately explained—and an act as simple as capturing a Pokémon would permanently ruin whatever thing that was.

Was it the drastic shift of power from Pokémon to human that was so distressing? Or maybe the capturing itself was what was so bad? But then that made Raios no different from the people who claimed all Pokémon needed to be set free. And Raios certainly wasn't as insane as _that_. So maybe the symbolic power really was important to him.

A heavy thud, vibrating through the wood of the tower, interrupted Morty's thoughts. He turned to the source of the noise—a large, fully-evolved dragon, which had no doubt flown its way to the roof, met his gaze with narrowed silver eyes. Morty couldn't recall the species, with its short legs and flat red wings, but he knew it hailed from Hoenn.

It panted heavily, most likely tired from flight, growling at Morty between heavy breaths. Despite what its collar implied, the dragon seemed to be as aggressive as a wild Pokémon… and with no Trainer in sight, Morty had to assume that it was out of control.

But the dragon quieted down and stood there a roof's length away, winded, staring Morty down like _he _was the dangerous one. Wanting to fend off the sudden threat before it became a wrench in his plans with Ho-Oh, Morty sent out two Pokémon from his team. The dragon looked determined and powerful, and even smart, but hopefully it would leave once it saw itself outnumbered.

"Gengar! Sableye! On my mark!"

Sableye wilted when the big dragon growled at it, drawing some exasperated jabs from its teammate. Morty's scaly challenger regarded its two opponents with what looked remarkably like pity, before glancing backward at the sky and staying that way. Morty kept his Pokémon from engaging, watching with a peculiar kind of respect as the dragon gazed at Ho-Oh. It gaped in utter astonishment, leaning forward and letting out a little whine. Morty's Pokémon followed suit, and he chuckled—even Pokémon were stunned by Ho-Oh's glory.

As the dragon stood there tilting his head, trying to comprehend what it saw, Morty really felt guilty about driving it away. But he had to, before it attacked or otherwise interfered. He definitely couldn't risk letting it scare Ho-Oh off. "Shadow Ball!" he ordered, and both of his Pokémon reluctantly carried out their moves.

They quietly conjured blobs of darkness, which hurled into the dragon and burst like dangerous smoke balls. The dragon slid back a foot or two, not particularly injured—it let out an alarmed grunt, and then a roar. With furious wing movements it cleared the dark haze, its attention again fully focused on Morty.

And now it really _was _going to attack.

* * *

"What unfolds on my tower?" Ho-Oh asked, confident that no one belonged there but her guests and herself. "A battle?"

Typh slowed down his flying to check. "I only see one Trainer."

"So it is a wild battle. How peculiar." Ho-Oh kept flying, to Typh's despair. "It needs to be stopped at once."

"Wait! That's Salamence! I mean, the dragon is Lugia!"

Ho-Oh shook her head. "Your father is no Ditto, little one."

"Transforming is a psychic thing you can do, I swear!"

"We shall find out the truth in due time," Ho-Oh said, and Typhus glowered at the obvious skepticism in her voice. But her warm smile eased him. "Now watch this."

They had made it to their destination! Ho-Oh swooped down to the edge of her tower's roof, raising her head and crying out as loudly as she could. The high, sustained note echoed for several golden seconds, announcing her reinstatement, before she closed her beak and touched down. To her great pleasure, the wood at her feet refused to creak or groan even after so many years of existence. The tower's enduring strength impressed her and allayed her worries of returning to an old, weary shell of a home.

She looked at the roof before her, wings still out. Her appearance produced the desired effect—the entire battle on the roof halted rapidly, the combatants displaying either respect or plain awe as they gazed at her. Ho-Oh didn't mind the Pokémon's captivation, but the human standing there irked her with his friendly smile. Humans usually bowed or shed tears when they met her in person, but this one only stared, even as his trained Pokémon backed away and wordlessly watched with wonder.

The wild dragon that had been fighting them, oddly enough, had the more human reaction—it trembled to be so near Ho-Oh, and she thought it would begin to cry. "It isn't wild," Ho-Oh murmured to Typhus when the little Lugia landed beside her. "Look at its collar."

"Trust me, Ho-Oh," Typhus said back, a bit put off by Salamence's sappiness. "That's Salamence. Like I said, he's—"

"Shh, little one." Ho-Oh moved across the roof, toward the dragon. "A friend tells me you are not who you seem to be, scaly visitor."

Salamence peered up at her shyly, embarrassed to speak through winded breaths. "H-hello, Ho-Oh. Did my son tell you about my present condition? I hope you can place your trust in us." The voice, though low and befitting a grown dragon, matched one that Ho-Oh knew all too well. "I… it's been so long. Only now do I realize how much I have missed you." He had so much to say to her, but now was not the time. They weren't even speaking in private, as evidenced by the dumbstruck looks on Morty's Pokémon.

"Please forgive me if I show little emotion. You're not… the way you should be." She looked down on Salamence, who drooped. "I am still awaiting your return." Only once the real Lugia was there in front of her would she give in to sentiment… even if the dragon's sharp, silvery eyes pushed all doubt from her mind that it was really him.

"I understand your reticence. We can be properly overcome by feelings later," the dragon said with a short growl. "I apologize for picking a fight here, but my purpose is to turn this human away. Please—he desires to capture you, and I had just been trying to defeat him before you—"

"Worry not. Your son has said enough to me about that." Ho-Oh stood tall and nodded at Salamence, grateful that the both of them could hold out for just a while longer. "I will take care of this." With a deep breath that puffed her up a bit, she turned and regarded the human-owned Pokémon present. "So you wish to challenge me?"

"Y-yes," went one whose species Ho-Oh couldn't identify. "I mean, Morty does…"

"Not just Morty. Me too," added the other Pokémon, a Gengar. "Heh. I wonder what our whole motivation'll even be after this."

Ho-Oh had only seen such challenges a few times in her life, way back when she would watch her mother handle them and learn the finer points of combat. Now on her own, she did as she was taught and watched the human, seeing if he showed only the earnest will to test himself against a mighty opponent. Ho-Oh couldn't really read him, however, because nervousness clouded his expression. He had been standing there silently the whole time, waiting for Ho-Oh to acknowledge him.

So she would.

"Please stand to the side with your father, Typhus," Ho-Oh requested, gently pushing the little Lugia away with one wing. "I will handle this." With a great flap of her wings, she took a position in the center of the roof. "I grant you the right to challenge me," she addressed her opponents, recalling an introduction from centuries past. "This is the Aurous Trial—a battle that I wage in peace, in recognition of the intimate companionships between certain humans and their Pokémon. Let this test of your abilities be honorable, and you will be graced and golden whether you face victory or defeat." Ho-Oh sounded quite like her mother when she echoed those well-chosen words, and a surge of pride overcame her. The legacy would continue after all.

"Yes! I've been waiting for this so long!" The Gengar grinned. "Thank you!"

His partner just twitched a little.

"It's finally happening," the human said, balling one hand into a fist. "Thank you for calming that dragon, and watching over Lugia. But now it's time… I won't let you down, Ho-Oh!"

"You know, to be graced and golden you need to battle one-on-one—"

"Ho-Oh, please listen when I say that he will stop at nothing to capture you!" Salamence cried. "He took away my son just to draw you here!"

"You both need to ease your minds," Ho-Oh said as she dodged the battle's first attack. Morty had chosen Gengar to start, and its bolt of dark energy shot past her and dissipated in the sun. "The gist of your warning is that the human can overpower me, and I know that to be false."

Typhus waved his wings and protested some more, but Ho-Oh ignored him and focused on her battle. As the combatants traded immense blasts of fire and ghostly assaults, Typh could only watch in apprehension from the sidelines—even if Ho-Oh won, she'd lose! Typhus sulked, unhappy that he could do so little to help. If only he could make himself way bigger, or turn into something ferocious…

Morty seemed to be playing by the rules for now, so Salamence sat down and took the opportunity to catch up with his son. "What are you _doing _here?!" he hissed. "How did you fly like that? Did the Kimono Girls let you leave, or did you abscond? You must know, Typhus, that it is very irresponsible of you to be here!"

"I'll explain later, I promise," Typh said, backing up from the literally heated battle. He sat with his father, leaning against the railing with his wings in his lap. "I just had to stop Ho-Oh, you know. I wanted to tell her."

"You could have left the task to me, my typhoon! It is too dangerous for you to be out here. It is foolhardy, and I wouldn't want any further danger to befall you…" Salamence nosed his son in concern, but Typhus moved away from his touch. "What's wrong? Do you disagree with me? Or are you now too embarrassed to receive affection from a dragon?"

"Oh… not either. I just, uh, would rather be the same thing as you. So if we were both Salamences, that would be okay."

"It will be a while before you can transform. But you did fly… indeed, what I want to know is how you acquired flight so quickly! It took me more than a year, and I had practiced… obsessively…" Salamence peered at his son, who had nowhere to hide. "So, how? You even look smaller, yet… that can't be possible. The twists and turns of today must be getting to me… no, you definitely look smaller!"

"Look. Don't worry about it… Dad."

"And you sound different. What did you do to yourself?" Suspicion crept across the dragon's face, and his sharp teeth started to show. "You… you aren't even my son, are you?"

Typh cried out, "No, I am! Don't be crazy! I know you can't check psychically, but it's really me."

"I require an explanation!"

"I don't like it that you're baring your teeth at me…"

Salamence gave a funny look. "I thought you wanted me to act with more ferocity, even to you. Don't you remember?" The question only deepened his suspicions.

"Oh." The small Lugia sighed and drooped his head, giving in to Salamence's pressure. He wanted to keep his secret hidden, but trust was more important. "Okay…" He fiddled with his wings. "I was practicing like you wanted me to, on my coin. I was bored, and Raios came back, and I told him I wanted to help stop Ho-Oh from getting caught… so he taught me a trick for me to fly, and it works really well! It does have some side effects… but he said it's nothing we can't fix."

Salamence growled—he did not like to see his son tinkering with his form so early on, before learning to be a responsible psychic. "I disapprove of your actions, and I will need to speak to Raios about this… but I trust you, my typhoon. Just stay at my side until this is over." Typh let himself get nosed this time, and the young Lugia smiled with love.

"Thanks, Dad."

"Did Raios not follow you?" Salamence asked in gentler tones. "Where is he?"

"I don't know."

"You had been with him."

"I sort of just flew off and he didn't follow me…"

"Then we will find him later. Don't… don't be so rash in the future," ordered the dragon. "What if you had gotten captured?"

"Well, I didn't," Typh pouted, hoping Salamence would just let him be. The talking had been so distracting that he hadn't even realized Morty was getting crushed. "Look, Ho-Oh's owning this guy."

"I HATE FIRE!" shrieked Morty's Mismagius as it blew by—on fire. It floated to and fro, trying to extinguish the flames in the wind and attack Ho-Oh at the same time, but everything soon overwhelmed it. The dark tendrils of its battle moves missed Ho-Oh completely, and the burnt-up Mismagius collapsed to the floor, muttering incomprehensible curses to itself.

"It's a very good thing that this tower has always been flameproof," Ho-Oh said, resisting the urge to look at Salamence.

"You landed some good hits there, Mismagius," Morty said as he rescued the smoking ghost and sent out a new one. "Okay, Drifblim! We're starting to get there! Shadow Ball!"

Drifblim dutifully floated up and launched the attack at Ho-Oh, who deflected it with a gust from her wings. She did it almost effortlessly, and Drifblim had the sinking feeling that Morty's entire team had been trying the same strategy. "Uh! H-how many of us are left?!" the Drifblim asked, darting to the side to avoid a terrifying charging strike from Ho-Oh.

"Two of us left," said the timid Sableye from behind Morty's legs. "You and me."

"Time for something different!" their Trainer called. "Drifblim, use Amnesia!"

"Oh no," said the Pokémon. "I never pick the right things to forget!" But Drifblim had to act fast, so he made a hasty decision and closed his eyes, feeling faint for just a second. He thought about the things he wanted to forget one last time, before throwing them away.

When he opened his eyes it looked at Ho-Oh, impressed. "That's a big bird."

"I am no ordinary bird," she said, catching her breath. "I am Ho-Oh."

"Oh? Oh what?"

"What happened?" Typhus asked, trying to follow the battle.

Salamence said, "I believe the Drifblim forgot about Ho-Oh completely, in an effort to fight without fear of her."

"Now use Thunder Wave!" Morty ordered.

"Oh, right." Drifblim twirled and emitted a powerful pulse of electricity, which moved far faster than the dark moves Ho-Oh had learned to expect. She seized up as soon as the wave came over her, collapsing to the ground with her wings sprawled. It took extraordinary effort just to make the tiniest of movements. Ho-Oh uttered a weak cry, effectively immobilized.

"I can do birds easy," Drifblim stated, full of confidence. "You didn't guess electric moves would come from a ghostly old blimp like me, did you?"

Ho-Oh opened her beak slightly but said nothing.

"Being paralyzed by electricity must suck," Typhus declared from the sidelines.

"The element is particularly hard on fliers," added his father. "I hope she has some way to recover."

Morty's heart raced. "We've got it now! Use Hex!"

Drifblim gleefully launched the sinister move, sending several ethereal darts shooting into Ho-Oh's side. The electrically-induced paralysis severely intensified the impact of the attack, and Ho-Oh cried out, forcing her beak open in agony.

"No!" Salamence gasped. "Ho-Oh, no!" For the umpteenth time he wished to be a psychic again, this time to help out the poor contorted avian. But that was impossible as well as immoral.

He watched as Ho-Oh closed her eyes, and for a second he thought with horror that she had conceded defeat. But she trembled instead of resting still, and in a moment she mustered some strength and slowly rose to her feet. Her movements, shaky as they were, stunned Drifblim and Morty.

"Well, well, well," Ho-Oh said as the paralysis slowly healed away. "I suppose _you _would not guess that a psychic strike could come from a fiery bird such as I."

"What psychic move—AAAHH!"

A blunt burst of energy smacked Drifblim right in the mind, disorienting the Pokémon enough for Ho-Oh to blast him with her preferred element—fire. Like the previous Mismagius, Drifblim soon started to burn.

"Whoa, this hurts," the ghost noted, turning to Morty in confusion. "What is this, even?"

"Fire! It's fire!" Sableye wailed.

"Well, what's that? _Sounds _familiar…"

"Don't tell me you decided to forget _fire_, Drifblim!"

The clueless Pokémon bounced around on the floor and in the wind, trying to snuff out the mysterious reaction taking place on his head. "I can see why. It sucks." Drifblim came to a rest on the tower roof and deflated, still looking at his terrified teammate. "I don't feel much pain, you know, but I'm still spent. Sorry, guys." Morty seemed to agree, because he withdrew his beaten Pokémon before it could fill Sableye with any more dread.

"I have one last chance to prove myself," the Trainer said, turning to the final member of his team.

"No…" Sableye groaned as his Trainer nudged him forward. "I'm not ready. Don't make me fight, Morty!" He grabbed the human's leg and refused to let go. "I'll just lose anyway!"

"Come on, Sableye!"

"No!"

"I know Ho-Oh can be intimidating, but…"

"Nooooooo!"

Ho-Oh impatiently blew a tendril of fire their way, but instead of moving the Sableye to battle… it made the Pokémon whimper one last time and refuse to move. It clutched Morty's leg as if for dear life, and the Trainer had no choice but to withdraw and conclude his battle with an anticlimactic loss.

He sighed. "That… was still everything I had hoped for. In the end, my victory didn't matter as much as being able to challenge you."

Ho-Oh nodded, entertaining the notion that she could speak to him just because they currently maintained eye contact. "That is the spirit of a good challenger," she said. "Your first fighters were tough, but followed the same formula. The greatest difficulty was that inflated creature of yours, who surprised me and caught me off guard. In many cases, clever strategy outperforms sheer strength.

"Also… all of your fighters should be adequately trained, and certainly not afraid to enter battle. That poor last Pokémon of yours!" She laughed. "Well… I do not know why I'm critiquing your performance if you cannot hear my words, actually. Let me remember what to say… ah, yes. The Aurous Trial has ended, and though I prevailed, you showed great courage in the heat of battle.

"Foster greater strength in your companions, and inspire others to achieve greatness. If you do so with honorable intentions, in one year's time you can be tested again." She bowed. "Even if the Aurous Trial has been lost to antiquity and you simply wanted to try yourself against me… it was a pleasure. Now I must rest. You may go now."

Morty bowed back, with a weird smile on his face, as if something about bowing to a giant bird was funny. The human took a hesitant step toward Ho-Oh, who stood tall and spread her wings.

"You _must _go now," Ho-Oh said sharply. "I honored your wishes, so now heed mine and make your leave. This is my private, sacred roost, after all. At least, it is now once again."

Judging by his rapid backpedaling, he got the message.

"See?" Ho-Oh said, at last turning to Salamence and Typhus, relieved to see them unhurt by any stray torrents of flame. "I took care of that human, did I not? I even had the power to rise from paralysis. What is there to fear?"

"You're really strong!" admired Typhus, rising to his feet. "Did all your injuries fix already?"

"As I was hit by mostly ghastly moves, the injuries are not physically apparent," Ho-Oh said cheerily. "But, nothing major. When I roost tonight, I expect that I'll heal in full."

Salamence opened his mouth to congratulate her, but he saw something that made his stomach turn. Morty, who had retreated to the door but not departed, plucked a purple ball from his pockets. He activated and threw it, all in one motion, without a word.

"Ho-Oh!" the dragon managed to bellow. His voice died—the ball was already sailing across the roof, and his mind had jumped ahead to mourning her capture. He watched as her expression only became more confident as she stared down the sphere traveling through the air. She made no effort to evade, only giving one last smile of reassurance that Salamence knew was meant for him.

But before Salamence could feel properly horrified, Typhus leapt forward, wings reaching out, into the path of the purple ball. Salamence yelled and lunged after his son, but it was far too late—the ball collided with Typh's wing, and it clicked open.

"Noooo!" Salamence howled as the device locked away the light which had been his son. "Typhus! My little typhoon!"

Morty's unfair, treacherous act filled Salamence with fury. He rushed across the roof with the aid of his wings, ignoring whatever imperatives Ho-Oh was squawking. Morty raised his hands in defense—the dragon received no meaningful opposition from him, as his strong Pokémon had already been defeated. And that was perfect.

Salamence charged forward, bracing for impact.

"Wait!" Morty began, astonished that the dragon was enraged instead of Ho-Oh. "I—"

Salamence cut the human off with a roar and slammed into him with his shoulder. After the initial blow, which raised a pained yell, the dragon's momentum carried them into the rooftop railing. Salamence felt vengeful pleasure as the wooden guard structure splintered and gave way under their combined force.

Typh's father hurtled over the edge, with no fear—his wings carried him back to safety. Morty, however, was unfortunate enough to be flightless, and when he reached out desperately he only caught air before plummeting out of sight.


	16. Passing Judgment

16. Passing Judgment

As Salamence planted his feet back on the roof and roared triumphantly, Ho-Oh raised her own valiant cry. The dragon thought for a second that it was the sound of approval, but when he turned he saw only her tail—she had dived from the roof, leaving him behind.

The dragon sidled up to the jagged gap in the railing—his brutish handiwork—and peered over the edge. A horrible chill ran through him as he saw Morty falling to his death, and he felt no better when Ho-Oh flew in seconds later and grabbed the human, eliciting cheers from a crowd gathered below. He had been moments away from becoming a murderer, and it terrified him to think that he could lose his temper for mere seconds and do such terrible things.

Salamence watched with growing apprehension as Ho-Oh returned to the roof with Morty in her talons. After she let the human go, she landed and said, "We are very fortunate that I could reach him in time."

What had just occurred had been inexcusable, but the dragon felt the need to speak before Ho-Oh passed judgment. "Please forgive me, Ho-Oh," he begged. "I couldn't bear to lose my son, and I was—I was also enraged by the cheating."

Ho-Oh saw Salamence looking regretfully at the debris he had created. "The railing means little to me. Wood is more easily repaired than people," she said, her voice severe. "I know your child means much to you, but I am frankly astonished that you would retaliate in such a dangerous manner." The dragon cowered as Ho-Oh towered over him. "You should be fully ashamed, especially if you are the Lugia that you claim to be. Not only is it a disgrace that you abandoned your true body, which nature generously bestowed upon you, but your willingness to send a human to his death also violates the goodwill we have fostered for centuries! I am appalled that you would abandon our promise of peace as well as yourself!"

With a terrible sickness in his gut, Salamence realized he hadn't thought of that promise at all. "I only forgot…"

"Before, you were younger and I could forgive you. But now you have no excuse… maybe you should _keep _your wretched scales and claws, because I find you, on the whole, undeserving of the identity you so carelessly cast aside!"

"I'm… I'm… sorry," was all Salamence managed to say before reducing to tears. He wanted to explain that his son had always mattered the most to him, and that he had done everything in his power—short of rampage—to get him back from human captivity. But his voice refused to cooperate, so he just wept.

He had been hoping since the previous day that he could speak to Ho-Oh and mend their troubled past, but now he knew she only felt disgust for him—and that was why he cried. The same temper that had hurt Typhus had returned to once more hurt Salamence, who detested that temper for a while before simply loathing himself.

A feathery wing brushed him on the head after a while. Salamence looked up with shame. "Forgive me. I spoke a little too harshly," Ho-Oh said to him softly. "It is true that the human betrayed our trust first. And your reaction… perhaps I do not understand it because I have yet to raise a daughter. If I had been in your situation, I think I would have transformed as well. And I would have fought." She smiled, trying to cheer Salamence up. "But I would've chosen a bird, surely."

"But I still did a horrible thing."

"I mean to say that I see it was a mistake now. I wish I hadn't said those hurtful words to you—they wouldn't have helped in any case."

"Thank you." Salamence cleared his eyes and nodded weakly. "Are we… are we alone?"

"Yes. While you were… lost in anguish, the human apologized to me and left—and before you worry, he gave me this." Ho-Oh lifted her right foot, under which lay Morty's purple Poké Ball. "As I cannot speak to humans on my own, he did this of his own volition. He told me that the ball will remain in command of your son until you bring it to what is called a Pokémon Center. At such a location, the capturing mechanism can be undone."

Salamence pawed the ball, keeping his son contained in there a while longer so he could stay alone with Ho-Oh. "That was kind of him to inform us."

"Trust me, his visage was as weighted by guilt as yours."

"I see." Salamence sighed. "Ho-Oh, after what you said about me, I… I would like to have a minute of quiet. I no longer have use for this dragon disguise."

"Are you going to…" Ho-Oh trailed off. She watched, silent and with a racing heart, as Salamence closed his eyes and focused. He stood there, motionless, until a minute later when he shuddered and sank to the floor.

He growled to himself. "I cannot do it. My psychic capabilities are not present in this form."

"But you used that psychic power to transform in the first place?"

"Yes, and that is my problem. But it can still be done, with the help of another." All Salamence had to do was find Raios, who was still missing. "You… you do believe that I am Lugia, I hope."

Ho-Oh shook her head. "You are not Lugia. But I do believe that you _were_ Lugia, and that you can become Lugia once more. Your mind may be here, but… how can I embrace you and welcome you home when you are a dragon? It is not right, and it just cannot be, until you return in earnest." And Ho-Oh wished Salamence would hurry—she missed Lugia very, very much.

"I understand," Salamence said quietly. "If we can find my friend—"

"There's the Salamence!" said a Kimono Girl as she pushed open the door to the roof. "And there's Ho-Oh!" Her sisters fluttered in one by one, some of them oohing and others directly praising the golden bird's beauty. Once they all stood side by side, they bowed simultaneously, and Ho-Oh returned the gesture.

"Wow! What a pleasant surprise it is to see these sisters!" she said sideways to Salamence. "Their ancestors were indispensable, and I expect that these ladies are equally helpful."

"We saw the flames and some other attacks from the ground," one Kimono Girl explained. "We've been climbing the tower as fast as we could!"

Kuni stepped forward. "I brought the young Lugia, because he was dying to come with us." She opened a Poké Ball, releasing Typhus—who gaped at Ho-Oh.

"Whoa… finally I get to see Ho-Oh. This must be what it feels like for people to meet my dad," he said, before shaking his head to get back on track. "Wait, no! What I mean to say is—why'd you have to burn down Lugia's tower, huh?"

"No, Typhus," barked Salamence. "She did not do such a thing."

"What? But you told me…"

Ho-Oh peered at Salamence. "You have two sons? And… you told the both of them that I burnt down your home?"

The odd appearance and behavior of the Typhus who had just been caught suddenly made sense when Salamence considered that the Kimono Girls had brought the real one. "I only have one son… I'm fairly sure that the Lugia in the purple ball at your feet is actually my close friend, Raios."

Typh gasped. "Really? Raios got caught? And he transformed?!"

"He took the appearance of our species and flew to Ho-Oh pretending to be you, Typhus," Salamence explained. "The three of us ended up here. We spoke, and he did not act quite like you, of course, but I trusted him… because I had promised to trust you."

"You're… probably talking," said Kuni to the three Pokémon. "That's good. We've all decided that we'll be more useful down below, explaining Ho-Oh's comeback to people." She rolled Typh's ball toward Salamence. "We'll stop by later, okay?" With a wave and a little twirl, each Kimono Girl turned and left as expediently as she had come. Most of the sisters stole one last look at Ho-Oh before disappearing down the stairs.

"Tell me what happened to Raios, Dad!" Typhus urged. "He really transformed into me?"

"He cannot become you. He was his own individual self, in Lugia form." Salamence nodded to Ho-Oh. "But Raios can speak for himself."

Ho-Oh lifted her foot and poked at the Master Ball's button until it gave up its captive. As soon as the Typhus impostor appeared, the real Typhus grabbed him in a big hug, greeting Raios with a familiar strangling sensation.

"Raios! This is so cool—I can't believe you're a Lugia now like me!" cried Typh. "Except you're still human-sized! To be honest, you should probably be bigger than me."

"I don't know how to grow or shrink yet," Raios explained when Typh let him breathe. "And I don't think I had time to do that anyways."

"Raios…" said Salamence. "How could you play with my affections like that? I had my suspicions, but I discarded them because I trusted you as my own son. Why didn't you just tell me that you were in disguise, friend?"

Raios didn't know if Lugia could blush, but his head certainly felt hot. He was aware of the three sets of eyes boring into him, and his happiness at being readily accepted by Typh melted away. "I don't know. I guess I just… liked it."

"You liked lying to me outright? You liked calling me Dad?" Salamence asked with increasing disgust. "You even liked being doted on? It's sickening that you still played along even then. How could you? It was not play to me… I love my son, and you took advantage of that. It feels like a violation of my family—how could you?"

"Maybe—maybe I do like being loved!" burst Raios, still turned away. His voice faltered. "I wasn't fakinganything—"

"What? Raios—"

"Now, now." Ho-Oh intervened with a flap of her wings, drawing the attention of Salamence and the two Lugia. "I will not stand any more blubbering from any of you. This issue of yours can be discussed later—without so much shaming, I hope. Your friend Raios had nothing but good intentions for us… his self-interests came second, whatever they may be. And I appreciate his efforts." Ho-Oh drew in close to Salamence and added quietly, "He is vulnerable—don't hurt him as I hurt you just minutes ago. Hold back your judgment."

After a moment's hesitation, Salamence nodded in agreement. "What issue shall we focus on, then?" said the dragon, hoping to be quickly distracted from Raios's sudden and obvious desire to be loved like a son. "My son is rescued, and you are safe."

"There are not one, but _two_ Lugia standing here, and neither is the one I wish so dearly to see!" stated Ho-Oh with a short laugh. "Since Raios is with us, and I assume that he is the friend who can assist you, please take this moment to restore yourself!"

"Yes, I would like that to happen as well. Can you do it, Raios?" the dragon said, knowing he didn't really have to ask.

"Unlike the mind dive, this time it's easier because you know what to do," Raios said, shelving his personal troubles for Ho-Oh's sake. She had defused Salamence's verbal lashing, and for that Raios was grateful. If he helped out like he always did, maybe Salamence would feel alright again. "So yeah—I can just give you the psychic energy you need. Here, let's make physical contact." He moved to Salamence's side, resting one wing on the dragon's back and mustering his strength. "Do you feel it?" he asked telepathically.

Salamence closed his eyes as he channeled Raios's energy and responded with his own mental voice. "Yes, and it is invigorating." Shimmering colors enveloped Salamence, and unlike the blinding light of evolution his glow did not fully hide him from view. "Avert your eyes if what you see is too discomforting," he said aloud.

Ho-Oh shushed him, looking on with anticipation as Salamence became less and less of a dragon. Typh couldn't resist watching either—his mouth hung open in awe as his father's body changed shape. Underneath the brightened glow, wings shrank away, limbs stretched out, and many other proportions shifted in the transition from one species to the other. Salamence grew paler by the second, and his defining features disappeared only to be shortly replaced by Lugia's. When the glow finally ended and he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Typhus leaping at him.

"You're back!" the son cried, knocking Lugia over with a laugh. "And I'm still bigger than you! Sweet! I'm the biggest Lugia!"

Lugia gave in to Typhus's preferred display of affection and hugged him on the floor, nuzzling him for good measure. "Haha, yes! But not for long. Oh, and that reminds me, my typhoon." Lugia stood up with Typh, feeling short and oddly young. "The awakening of your psychic nature triggers a period of increased growth called adolescence. You will put on a lot of size."

"A growth spurt? Cool!" Typh cheered to himself. "I was about to say… I had crazy hunger pangs earlier."

"To be fair, you had been practically starved previously. But it is true that your appetite will be more voracious than ever before."

"Bring on the fish—I'm so ready. Oh, and I think someone else wants to hug you," Typh said, before leaving Lugia's side. Ho-Oh came up to Lugia and stared down at him, who gazed back at her with the hope that he was at least satisfactory now.

The golden bird uttered, "You are still unnaturally reduced in size."

Her eyes watered.

"But you're Lugia," she finished, sweeping her long-lost friend up in a feathery embrace. She didn't care that she essentially held him close like he was a child. "Oh, I have searched for so long… you were my one true friend in this world, Lugia, and I was a fool to hurt you the way I had. Both then and today."

"I am equally at fault for what happened that night and this afternoon. But we are both wiser now, aren't we?" Lugia said, his own eyes flooding. He felt Ho-Oh's warm, colorful feathers, and remembered a life that he had thrown away and forgotten. "When I ran away I never hoped to see you again, because I was certain I would be filled with even more disappointment or desolation. I forgot you—I forgot your warmth, and I forgot your kindness… oh, how I regret doing so." He buried his face in Ho-Oh's wing. "Will you forgive me, Ho-Oh? For everything I have done?"

"Only if we may forgive each other. That is my greatest wish."

"Then let us do just that."

"Don't cry…" Ho-Oh tried to say, before dropping a few tears herself. "I… this is the most joyful I have been in ages. I can still hardly believe that I have found you."

"I wonder what reallyhappened between them," Typh said at a _very _respectful distance—all the way near the edge of the roof by Raios, who seemed a bit down. "What do you think, Raios? Um, are you okay?"

The smallest and least legitimate Lugia kept his back turned, gazing from the roof. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "Everyone is so happy, so I am too. I mean…"

"No you're not." Typh stood at the railing next to Raios. "Is it because my dad got mad at you? I think you're a great Lugia—you have the psychic skills to back it up and everything. You just need to make yourself bigger, and you'll be good to go."

"He wasn't mad because I'm not a good Lugia. It's because I pretended to be you, and he gave me a little bit of love thinking it was for you." Raios sighed, relieved to at least let his feelings out for a friend to hear. "He made it clear he doesn't like the thought of loving me, and as long as I'm a Lugia it'll offend him."

"Oh… it's not like that, Raios."

Even though Typh's father had reason to take offense at the deception, Typh could see why Raios would feel hurt too. The poor Latios really _was _lonely, and Typh's father had just rejected him, denying him the support he really wanted. "You just caught him off guard," Typh offered. "He doesn't like that you lied to him, but it doesn't mean that he doesn't love you… hey, Raios?"

"What?"

Typh touched Raios on the wing. "Do you really love my dad? Like, do you really want him to treat you like he treats me?" Every hug and nuzzle Typh had given his father felt like another reason for Raios to envy and dislike him now, and the last thing Typh wanted was to lose the amazing buddy he had just made. He hoped Raios didn't see things that way. "You could ask him to adopt you, maybe. Or maybe I should ask. You'd be a cool big brother. And I know Dad likes you a lot—he really does care about you."

"I already tried once, you know. I asked once."

"What? When?"

It had been a long time ago. Raios didn't want to continue, and thankfully some footsteps from behind gave him an excuse to drop the conversation. "Hi, guys," he said, turning to Ho-Oh and Lugia. The two of them had wiped away their tears, leaving only relief and contentment on their faces. "What now?"

"Ho-Oh has convinced me to stay in this city until tomorrow, so that I may grace the ceremonial opening of the new tower. My old home." Lugia glanced down at himself. "If I am to be the right size for it, I must start changing very soon."

"We must also attend to the release of certain people," Ho-Oh added. "Raios is still the possession of that purple sphere over there, and Lugia has just told me of Entei and Raikou's plight."

"We plan to meet those three, if Suicune hasn't rescued her brothers and fled already. I must retire now, however, to a peaceful place in which I may rest and finally undo the remainder of my alterations." Lugia walked to the edge of the roof and leaned over the railing, tipping over until he floated right through the air, as if free from gravity. "What a relief to be a psychic again!" he called cheerily, flapping his wings and flying off. "I will return later! Goodnight!"

"I hope you will forgive me," he added telepathically, making Raios jump a little. "I should know better than to ruin such a positive day with those hurtful words. I only need some time to think."

Everyone said their goodbyes to Lugia, before Ho-Oh asked nearly the same question Typh had posed. "Raios… I could not help but notice your desire to be taken under Lugia's wing. It was not exactly subtle. Do you truly feel that way?"

Raios nodded, too embarrassed to say anything. He had willingly let out some of his feelings, but now he regretted it—everyone needed to stop paying so much attention to him. He didn't have to be treated like a hurt little child… even if his longing for a father indicated some fundamental lack of maturity. He couldn't help that, and when he thought about it, maybe it was the way he was supposed to be. What if he was still a kid, and living alone in the world had forced him to grow up? Being in charge of Salamence and not the other way around had kept him in a mature position for a while, but after the incident on the road and after seeing how dearly Lugia loved Typh… Raios felt like he was regressing. And he honestly wanted to continue if it meant security and having family for once.

At the same time, it would humiliate him to admit all of that. Even just considering it made him feel lousy, and if it was hard to tell these two then it would be even harder to tell Lugia himself.

It was a wonder that, so soon after being torn apart by Ho-Oh, Lugia had been ready to turn around and do that to someone else. But Ho-Oh knew that passing judgment was simply in their nature—the problem was that their personal relationships and motivations were too complex to assess so quickly. "Pay no mind to what Typhus's father said to you, Raios. It was but a hasty scolding spoken with little thought. When he returns, he will be much fairer to you, I am sure." Ho-Oh hummed a soft note as she came up with the right words to say. "Even though he will mull it over, you must also find peace yourself. We have some time to spare, if you want to confide in us why you feel the way you do. I will support you, and I am sure that Typhus will as well." Typh nodded in confirmation.

After a moment Raios mumbled, "It's… it's stupid. You'll wonder why I'm still hung up over it." Being able to say everything he wanted to say was very tempting, but it meant exposing his heart—and in all likelihood, letting it be broken again. "You'll just agree with Lugia in the end."

"Not even Lugia agrees with his past self now, you know." With that thought, Ho-Oh came up with a great trade. "I take it that you must have won Lugia's heart, and he yours. There is no other way in which he would call you a friend, or you would look to him as a father. Will you tell me your history together, Raios, with my promise that it will ease your heart if you do? If you like, I can tell you my story first."

Raios shrugged. "I think I already know what you and Lugia were like."

"I can assure you that you do not."

"Are you talking about how the tower burnt down?"

Ho-Oh sighed. "That is a culminating event which does not begin to describe the intricacies of our relationship. Let me speak first, then—allow me to tell a short and true tale, and perhaps you will feel better about sharing yours."

Typh knew to leave things to Ho-Oh and Raios for the time being, but he still encouraged his friend, saying, "I know _I_ wanna hear Ho-Oh. Don't you?"

With a reluctant nod, Raios agreed. The two of them sat down with Ho-Oh, who apologized for not having any soft space on the floor yet. Raios had mixed feelings about Ho-Oh's deal… her story interested him somewhat, and he wanted to find out how it differed from Lugia's viewpoint, but he didn't believe _his _story would be any good. In fact, he dreaded having to tell it, for fear of bringing back his old hopes only to have them shot down again by more people.

Raios moped and almost decided to refuse the proposition of story time—until Ho-Oh started things off with a shocker that totally distracted him from his worries.

"I will begin with the end, so that you two do not doze off. Lugia struck down his own tower."


	17. History

17. History

"Wait up, Morty," Kuni called as she hurried down one of the tower's many staircases.

Morty obliged and gave her a halfhearted wave. "Going down so soon already?"

"Ho-Oh needs some time alone." Kuni walked alongside Morty. "I know we passed you going up just minutes ago, but now I feel like talking. I went a little ahead of my sisters." When Morty just acknowledged her with a sigh, she asked him what was wrong. "I would never expect you to be so gloomy after seeing Ho-Oh in person. You must have been the one battling it up there, right?"

"Of course… but I lost."

"Oh, that explains things." Kuni shrugged and looked to a nearby statue of Ho-Oh for inspiration. "Well, Ho-Oh _is _one of the two most formidable Pokémon in all of Johto. You should at least be honored that you had the chance to challenge it."

"I know. But it's still difficult. I worked toward this for years."

Kuni smiled. "It must have been a wild fight. You look a bit of a mess."

"Didn't you notice?" Morty ran a hand through his hair—his headband was gone, and he didn't want to look all disheveled when he hit the streets. "I was pushed from the roof."

"What?! Who would do such a thing?"

"I don't know. I mean—this dragon did it, but I have no idea why it would. The Lugia that you have been taking care of escaped somehow, and I accidentally caught it, and while that's unfortunate… it was unusual how angry the dragon became. Its fury led it to attack me directly, even though it was a Trainer's Pokémon—didn't you see the broken railing?"

Kuni's eyebrows rose sharply when Morty mentioned his attempted capture, but she took care not to humiliate him for it. "I'm sorry. I must have been preoccupied by, you know, the long-awaited return of Ho-Oh to our civilization."

"It really was magnificent."

"You're doing pretty well for someone who almost died… wait. The young Lugia didn't escape! I literally just brought it to the roof to join its father." Kuni nodded before Morty could ask. "Yes, the older Lugia was that dragon who attacked you. I would be angry too, if someone caught my son. I mean… you must have been throwing that ball at Ho-Oh. To Lugia that is very unfair."

Morty confessed with a sigh. "When Eusine told me he threw a ball at Suicune even though he lost, I wondered why he would pull an unfair trick like that. But I did the same thing… I just really wanted that Pokémon, you know? I thought if I could get away with it for just a little while, everyone would realize that I don't plan to do bad things after all."

"Yes, I know how much you adore Ho-Oh." Kuni patted Morty's shoulder. "But the bird still saved you from an unpleasant demise! Not that it wouldn't have, but… I bet it saw something in you too, despite what you did."

They reached the other end of the floor and headed down yet another set of stairs. "I can't believe it. How can Lugia transform like a Ditto?" Morty asked. "I apologized to Ho-Oh, but not that dragon. I want to speak to it now that I know… and I want to speak to Raios again."

"It is okay. I'm sure you'll see Ho-Oh and those two Lugia again today. I don't know where Raios is, but he can't be far from Lugia." What Kuni wanted to know was why Morty said he'd caught the young Lugia that had actually been with her the whole time. The question had sort of fallen out of the conversation, but Kuni figured that Morty wouldn't have any answers if he hadn't even known about Salamence. "That Lugia you caught… you gave it back, right?"

"Yeah. I told Ho-Oh how Pokémon are released." Morty chose to talk about something that would keep his mind off his one big mistake. "Do you think it understands what we say to it?"

"I am sure that it does. But I cannot explain how. All I know is that, even though it cannot speak, Ho-Oh is very wise. It chose not to punish you, so I think you're not quite finished with it just yet."

They both shared a laugh. "Yeah, I feel that way too for some reason," agreed Morty. "In fact, I think it was more offended by the dragon than me."

"Oh, that reminds me," Kuni said. "Yesterday, Raios and the dragon actually came to us. They wanted to help Lugia wake up, and we let them because…" She remembered not to mention Lynn to Morty, or else he'd become all defensive. "Well, because they demonstrated their trustworthiness to us."

"They healed Lugia?"

"Yeah, and they would be gone already if they hadn't started worrying about Ho-Oh. They thought you were aiming to catch it. Which… you ended up trying after all…"

"Enough about that—it's already happened, and I'm tired of thinking about it. I can redeem myself soon, but for now… let's talk about them. Can you tell me what their ideas were, and what they did yesterday? I feel like they view me as a foe, and I still don't fully get why. When I see them next I want to undo that."

Kuni clapped her hands together—she'd been hoping to get a chance to explain. "Of course! Okay, so yesterday was when they came in. At first none of us believed them, but then… oh, I can't beat around it now. Lynn called and told us Raios could be trusted."

"…I need to call her back," was all Morty said before Kuni eagerly continued with the previous day's events.

* * *

Typhus blinked, not processing what he'd just heard.

"Huh?" he stammered. "What'd you say?"

Ho-Oh closed her eyes and spoke, as if the unfortunate fact didn't deserve to be repeated. "Neither I nor the humans destroyed Lugia's home. And it was not misfortune. It was his own doing."

"Why would he do that, though?" Raios asked, folding his wings. He didn't exactly mistrust Ho-Oh, but her story already contradicted Lugia's. And Raios didn't particularly enjoy the notion that one of them had to be lying about something. "I thought he was happy with his tower."

"He did treasure it. But his actions had nothing to do with the tower itself." When the two Lugia sitting in front of her stayed quiet, Ho-Oh said, "I request that you two refrain from interrupting me. I know that you will have questions, and I can answer them after I tell my complete account."

"That's my dad's policy too." Typh smiled. "If anything can shut me up, you know, it's a story."

Raios only nodded.

"Well…" Ho-Oh closed her eyes and willed herself to remember events that she had, for her benefit, left in the hidden depths of her memory. They came easily, though, because seeing Lugia had already stirred them. "It may be difficult for you to properly conceive what the world was like two centuries ago, but that was when I first spoke to Lugia. I had been peering over at his tower, observing from afar as I usually did every once in a while, but on that day… his father wasn't with him. He was alone.

"It turned out that his father had just passed away, leaving him to fend for himself. While he was exceptionally safe up there on the tower, I knew it still hurt to lose a parent. It hurt immensely. My own mother had gone only a few years prior, and… I felt that I could reduce Lugia's suffering. That was enough for me to break the ice.

"So I, for the first time, flew over to his tower and introduced myself. He seemed reluctant to speak to me—I later learned that his father had advised against it. But I shared with Lugia some things about my mother, and he spoke of his father… and soon enough, we were friends. At first I felt like I had succeeded in helping Lugia, but after a year or two I realized that he also supported me. I couldn't go a few days without visiting him."

Ho-Oh sighed. "A few decades passed. We grew. The humans grew increasingly interested in the two of us, even though very few knew that we youths had replaced our parents up here. Lugia voiced his concerns to me—his father had always bid him to keep his distance, yet… humans would climb his tower in the hopes of meeting him, forcing him to fly off and return at a later time.

"I knew better than to persuade him to give the humans a chance, as he would never go against his father, but I tried to show him the good they could do. I reminded him that our towers only existed as the result of their dedication and craftsmanship, and that our parents had not singlehandedly forged peace in the region. They had allied with noble humans.

"He seemed conflicted for a very long time, but we still enjoyed each other's company despite our different opinions. Admittedly, I continued trying to change his. I slowly convinced him that the caretakers of the towers only let humans reach us if they were proven to be worthy. And I even taught him their language, so he would not have to assume the worst of the sounds he heard. And he… well, he lent me his support, too. We could count on each other.

"I particularly remember watching him practice psychic attacks and weather-based moves… I even let him hypnotize me to sleep a few times." Ho-Oh chuckled. "Eventually, he felt confident enough about his ability to defend himself that he chose not to flee anymore. He began to allow humans… and they came and went, doing nothing harmful at all. At my suggestion, he even began to examine the humans and search for the ones with the best character. I believe to this day that that is one of our inherent abilities and duties.

"I was proud of him, but… one day, I witnessed a commotion unfold on his tower. I could see Lugia roaring and launching attacks, in a fight against a human's Pokémon. It must have been a challenge, I thought, like the Aurous Trial that my mother invented—and it surprised me that Lugia would accept such a fight. I watched from a great distance, squinting, wincing every time an attack hit my dear friend.

"It soon became clear who had the advantage. Lugia's strength flagged, and soon he ceased his offense and only struggled to defend himself." Ho-Oh's gaze sank. "I heard a telepathic cry for help… he called my name, desperate for assistance or even rescue. But… I stayed put. He could not be helped during an honor-bound contest, I thought. So I continued to cheer him on silently from afar, feeling pangs of guilt only when he threw a frantic glance toward my tower.

"His roars and movements grew weaker, and I knew he was nearly finished. He spent the last of his strength pleading with me, begging for me to come to his aid. I would have explained my reasons for not doing so, but as I am not a psychic the telepathic communication only worked in one direction."

"Oh no…" mouthed Typh, knowing what came next.

"Then a final blow struck him to the ground… his last terrified, hurt cry drifted over the air. I watched, first with anxiety and then relief, as the victorious human walked up to the heap that was Lugia, stayed close for a moment, and then left.

"After that, I was free to join my friend and console him. It was only when I flew to his tower that I realized the extent of his injuries… he was burnt in some places, cut in others… nearly every inch of him was damaged in some way, and his beautiful coat of feathers was mangled and dirtied. It tore at my heart to see him like that, too hurt to even move or look in my direction. I had to move him myself, turning him over and resting him in a sitting position. He only regarded me with silver eyes of sorrow.

"His weak, hoarse voice managed to utter, 'Why didn't you come help me?' He was crying, so I drew close, warming him and letting him hold me. When I finally told him my reason for not coming sooner, Lugia groaned. With a whimper, he told me the horrible truth—he had not accepted the battle in the first place. The human had come to his roof and immediately engaged, according to Lugia. He had only been defending himself."

Ho-Oh paused. Typh was frowning, probably on the verge of tears, but Raios only stared past her with a troubled expression. She knew she still had their attention, though, so she continued after a brief break for her tired voice. "I apologized as much as I could, but he remained heartbroken. I do not blame him for feeling that way, but he… he no longer trusted me, I am sure. After all, the humans that I had assured him were harmless had just reduced him to a pitiful wreck. And I had not saved him despite having more than enough time.

"I told him that his best chance for recovery lied with the humans below. I expected him to refuse immediately, and he did… he wanted help from no one but me. He held me, crying, and soon I found myself crying with him. We both longed for our parents, who would have known the right course."

"It's okay," Raios murmured, more than a little shocked that Lugia had gone through all that. It was so easy to assume that the big guy had always been great and powerful, from day one… but Typh was proof that every Lugia had to hone his abilities.

Raios wanted to believe anything other than that heart-crushing story of Lugia's defeat, but it really did explain Lugia's wariness of humans. It was not simple prejudice… the whole time, it had come from a traumatizing experience! If Raios had known that before, he wouldn't have argued with Lugia so much about the humans…

It dawned on him. Raios hadn't been the only one holding back some very personal matters. In a way, he had been foolish to think that no one else had any.

"Please, wear not such morose faces," Ho-Oh pleaded softly. "Today should be a joyous day, what with our reunion." Ho-Oh stretched her wings wide, their colorful feathers catching the light of the sinking sun, before folding them again. "Take a deep breath. There is no need to cry over this story, as it has a happy ending."

"Good," sniffed Typh.

"So Lugia did not trust me, yet he kept me close… I remember feeling uncomfortable, like he would send me away at any moment. But he did not. I spent that night with him, and the next few, until he had healed enough to move about unassisted. Whenever humans came up, even with concern and medical items, I stood tall and turned them away. Soon, to Lugia's great appreciation, they stopped visiting.

"A few weeks passed. I only visited Lugia once or twice after that incident, because he would say little to me and shortly request that I leave. He suspended our friendship and withdrew… for his own safety. And I understand. But it hurt me, more than I would have admitted at the time.

"On an overcast, dreary day shortly thereafter, a tall, long-haired human made his way onto my roof. He wasn't any of the people who managed the tower, so I thought he had come to meet me and be honored by my presence. But he only looked with respect for a few seconds before sending forth a Pokémon and ordering it to attack.

"I cried out in shock, and though the obedient Pokémon apologized but continued to obey his master. I remember feeling fear and anxiety, worrying that I would be beaten like Lugia had. My mother had been strong enough to easily overwhelm any challenger with her fiery rushes and precision physical attacks, but I… I had precious little training! I would shoot trails of fire at my opponent, only to see each one easily dodged or deflected. I managed to take out the Pokémon by clutching it in my talons, delivering an aerial slash, and slamming it to the floor, but then the human sent out another. And then a third after I took down the second.

"As if to capriciously throw the battle, the weather turned foul in short order, harrying me with a sudden downpour of rain. It severely limited my capacity for fire, even though I was essentially too exhausted to fight anymore.

"That was when it all became too much for me. I remember the human's grunt of surprise, and then his hesitation as I collapsed, waiting for the final onslaught. His third Pokémon was electric, and I was soaked, so I stood no chance. I braced myself, hoping an agonizing blow would at least drown out the pain of the others.

"But before that came, a deafening lightning strike blinded us. Our battle paused as we all turned to look to where the bolt had landed, and I screamed—Lugia's tower was on fire!" Ho-Oh looked at that tower in the distance, remembering the smoke and flames that had once been spewing from a jagged gash in its side. "I flew at once, ignoring the pain and drawing energy from seemingly nothing…"

* * *

"Leave me alone!" Lugia yelled as Ho-Oh landed right in front of him. He backed away from her, the fins on his back rising in agitation. "I don't want you to be here!"

"What are you going on about?" was her sharp response. With all her battle wounds, she had little patience. "Hurry back with me before you get hurt!"

"I don't need your help, Ho-Oh!" Lugia whimpered before adding, "I started this, so I can stop it!"

"What?! Gale, why would you create a storm?"

"I was protecting you! That human was the same one who incapacitated me!"

"You thought to protect me with a thunderstorm? I am a _bird of fire_, Gale! Lightning and water hardly helps!" Ho-Oh's eyes narrowed. "I know what it truly was. You thirsted for vengeance."

"No! You were in danger—"

The tower groaned and rumbled beneath their feet. Ho-Oh cried, "Come _on _now!"

Gale spread his wings and lifted his head to the sky, trying to further command the energy of the atmosphere. "I can still remedy this! If I increase the downpour, it'll extinguish the flames!"

Ho-Oh saw the smoke rising up past them, and she smelled the odor of burning wood. "It's too late! I know fire, and this one has progressed too far! Please, we must go!"

But Gale had his eyes screwed shut, and the rain poured down with greater and greater volume. If that continued, the local area would flood, and the tower would still collapse.

"Time is running out!" Ho-Oh said desperately. "Stop trying to drown the fire! You're only going to flood innocent—"

"Forget the humans—they can drown! I hate them!"

Ho-Oh gasped and, in her own act of enmity, shot a wing forward and struck Gale in the face. The blow wasn't strong, because wings only carried much power in flight, but it still knocked Gale over and got the torrential deluge to wane for a moment.

"Ho-Oh," said Gale, hardly audible over the rain. He rubbed his face. "I'm—"

A second bolt struck the roof, making the very air vibrate and turn searing hot for an instant. With sight and hearing overwhelmed by the lightning's flash and boom, that touch of the air was the only sensation Gale could discern.

The sensitive fins on his back told him that the bolt had touched down nearly right in front of him, at what must have been the highest point on the tower. "That was… close…" The blinded young Lugia's hesitant words turned into a terrified wail when his vision returned—that highest point had been his friend. "HO-OH!"

She had been lucky enough to faint as the tower roof collapsed—she fell through the deteriorating building, collecting bruises and cuts but thankfully no burns thanks to her elemental affinity. When she came to, she found herself on the ground at the foot of the tower. It took all of her strength to stand, because the lightning had not only fried her but also impaired her movements. And she now had two sets of wounds. But she got up—she had to. The direness of the situation got her moving, and adrenaline kept her from registering or feeling her myriad injuries.

"Gale?!" she called over the combined roar of the rain and flames. "Where are you?"

She heard a muffled yelp and whine from inside the tower and immediately charged through a burning wall to get inside. The first floor no longer existed, so Ho-Oh glided down into the cellar, searching through the flames for the source of the cry. After a minute of frantic searching, she found the creature—only to watch as a wooden frame fell from above and silenced it.

It couldn't be Gale, but she had to rescue it nonetheless. Piece by piece, she grabbed wood in her talons and painstakingly lifted them away from the trapped victim, painfully aware that her broad wingbeats fed the fires nearby. She rushed her work, knowing that soon the tower would be no more.

* * *

"I do not remember what happened next," Ho-Oh admitted. "I was too caught up in that flaming pit of a cellar, I suppose. I believe that I succeeded in saving that trapped animal, however, because otherwise I would not have flown from the tower in relatively high spirits.

"But they sank again when I resumed my search for Lugia. He was nowhere to be found, and it only relieved me marginally to know that he was not burning with the tower. I checked my own nest, hoping he had taken refuge there, but I found still no sign of him.

"Having made it home and feeling truly exhausted, I roosted in the heavy rain and tended to my wounds. I waited, telling myself that he would return soon. But a few hours after night had fallen, I lost my patience… I took to the skies and searched, first over the town and then the surrounding fields and forests. I resolved to labor all night to find Lugia!

"But I was not successful. I had to give up the search when I landed for a brief rest and found myself unable to take off again. Stranded far from home at night, I walked and secured a decently safe place to sleep. The small cave I chose was less than comfortable for such a large avian as myself, and it was certainly… claustrophobic compared to the vantage I was used to, but I verified its emptiness and made it mine for one night.

"The next day, I started for home—but I had no desire to lay eyes on the charred husk that had once been Lugia's tower. Instead, I decided to search for another day, this time less intensely so my tired wings could recover. The day after that, I searched again, wandering farther and farther from home. After about two months of searching Johto, our homeland, and Kanto, the land beyond the mountains, I returned here, only to find nothing. Nothing at all. The humans had simply turned the remains of his Brass Tower into a memorial. It didn't break my heart so much as drive it to desperation.

"With resolve bordering on lunacy I flew to faraway lands in my quest to find Lugia, eventually opting to fly at night to keep humans from tracking me. During my travels I found many good places that could have been a new home… but I only used them temporarily as I searched the area. I would find Lugia, at whatever place he had run off to, and together we would return home. If he would not return, then I had to at least speak to him.

"I searched for over one hundred and fifty years. After that, I lost count. And… that is our history."

Typh stood up and hugged Ho-Oh. "I didn't know you were looking for my dad the whole time! Sorry I yelled at you that one time."

"It's perfectly alright, Typhus."

"Do you… do you think my dad really hates humans? I don't want him to… but I feel like he would've done something really bad to Morty if he had the chance."

Ho-Oh sighed and chose not to let down Lugia's son with the truth. "Yes… if I hadn't been there, something horrible would have happened." She broke Typh's embrace. "But I doubt that he hates humans. He only hates those who would hurt his loved ones."

With a satisfied nod, Typh stepped back and sat beside Raios again. "Can I ask more questions, Ho-Oh?"

"Absolutely."

"What did the person who beat my dad do when he won? I mean, Morty would've caught you if he won, but that guy didn't catch my dad."

"I have no knowledge of what prize that human took from Lugia. Perhaps he only gained something immaterial. I only saw him move close to Lugia for a minute before leaving. It is a shame that he did not help Lugia, but… those were olden times. It was not so easy to heal a Pokémon then."

"And what about those human caretaker people? Why didn't they help?"

"They help me only indirectly, by guarding the tower below and taking care of its interior. I cannot speak to them, but they learned soon enough that they should not visit me too often or let just any person onto the roof. Lugia, meanwhile, essentially taught them that they could never come to him. I do not know of their actions during the burning of the tower, but they must have been checking on the safety of others."

"I just thought of something else," Raios said. "What made you come back? You returned just in time to come across all of us."

"That… is due to something that I hesitate to reveal. It sounds mystical and illogical, but… well." Ho-Oh turned away slightly. "I had a dream. I heard Lugia calling to me. I could not see him clearly, but I knew I was flying away, and he was begging for me to come back. I tried to change direction, but I proceeded to leave him behind. After a while, I managed to turn around to look back, but in that instant I crashed into the ground and woke. Unsettled by that vision, I eventually decided to pass by home—I was already traveling near Johto on my way elsewhere."

Raios said, "Wow… Lugia had a similar dream where you were flying away. I wonder if there was some kind of telepathic link between you two."

"Makes more sense than a random dream," agreed Typh.

They all fell silent for a moment. "Well, Raios?" Ho-Oh said with a deep breath. "Do you feel like the story has eased you?"

Raios nodded slowly. "Yeah, it has."

"It certainly eased me to tell it." Ho-Oh spoke low and gentle. "I know it is very personal… but we are all mutual, trusted friends, so I hope you will try to share with us like I have shared with you. You will benefit greatly from the experience, I promise."

"…Don't tell me your story was all to get me to talk."

"No no, I needed to say that for my own good, Raios."

"Sorry, but I want to talk to Lugia about everything," declared Raios as he stood and walked to the edge of the tower. He spread his wings and took flight—

"Wait, Raios!" Typh ran to the edge, too, but he skidded to a halt when he remembered he'd plummet if he tried to follow. "I want to hear your story too! I mean, I'd appreciate it if you would share…"

Ho-Oh brushed him with one wing. "It's fine, Typhus. I am certain that he is seeking resolution, and we should let him be. Maybe in the meantime, you can tell me how you got separated from your father."

"Oh…" Immediately, Typh understood Raios's reluctance. Sharing a story of his mistakes, and reliving moments of sadness… that was hard, even if Ho-Oh was the best audience Typhus could ask for. But the young Lugia put on a smile and said, "I can do that." He knew it would make him feel better, and he had already made up with his father too. "It all started when my dad sorta assumed that I liked the ocean as much as he did, and that I wanted to live there forever…"


	18. Adoption

18. Adoption

Lugia watched as Typh poked at the cavern's pool with his feet, staying put on the damp rocks instead of lounging in the water with his father. "Do we really live in the sea our whole lives?" asked the young one with just a trace of disappointment.

"We can survive elsewhere," Lugia said knowingly. "We can fly, after all. But we must always return to water often. It is our natural habitat."

"So you're saying that I could live on land, as long as I went for a swim every day?" Typh knew that other animals had to drink water to survive, so maybe it was the same thing.

"Yes, but you would not feel at home. You would miss the buoyancy and expansiveness of the ocean." Lugia twisted around gracefully in the pool, watching his son crouched on the rocky ledge. "Water suits us. We are even adapted to it, and that compatibility is evidence that the sea is where we are meant to spend our lives."

"I don't care if walking gets harder for me, though. You said we need to use telepathy in order to fly, so can't we just use telepathy to make us lighter _all_ the time?"

"If you don't mind developing skull-splitting migraines throughout the day, then by all means." Lugia laughed deeply. "I am only teasing. I love you, Typhus. You are always full of ideas."

Typh climbed from the water onto the rocky ledge, not seeming to hear. "I have an idea," he said. "It's a cool idea. I don't want you to laugh at it, okay?"

"Then I will not. And you know I only laugh with love, my little typhoon."

"Okay, what if… what if we went on another adventure?"

Lugia perked up. "Ah, of course! To where, though? South to warmer waters, or perhaps east around the peninsula toward Kanto? If we go east, then we can speed past the volcano this time. But I will allow you to decide our course."

"No, the idea is… to adventure over land. Let's go north! No, northeast! Aren't there mountains over there? I've always wanted to perch up high on a mountain." Typhus flicked his tail from one side to the other. "So, Dad? What do you think? Can we go over land? You're strong enough to fly both of us."

"Of course—what an excellent plan! We are overdue for some traveling," Lugia wanted to say. But, to his astonishment, he opened his mouth and uttered something else. "Absolutely not."

Typh seemed to have been expecting that disapproval, because he whined softly up at Lugia from the water. "How come, Dad? We can totally do it! I know you want to avoid the humans, so we can just stick to forests and stuff like that."

Lugia adjusted himself on the shelf of rock. He was a little surprised that he fit there. "I misspoke somehow, Typhus, don't fear. If we are adequately careful, then an overland trip will be very exciting and rewarding," he said. Except that wasn't what left his maw. "It is still too dangerous, Typhus. Your place is here in the ocean. I would hate for you to get hurt away from home and out of your element, or even worse—captured and taken from me."

"You'll be there, though! You can take on anything, right?"

"Of course I can," Lugia stammered, hearing himself say "That is not the point!" instead.

Typh let out a feeble growl. "It _is _the point! Why are you so scared of going anywhere outside of the ocean? You keep making it feel like…like I'm not allowed to step on land, like I'll melt or explode or something as soon as I do! You're not exactly subtle, Dad!"

Lugia's confused apology came out as, "I am only trying to protect you from your foolish notions! You are forbidden to go on or over land! It is too dangerous!"

"Well, I'll _show_ you I can do it!" Typhus yelled. "You can't stop me!"

Even with his head frantically plunged underwater, Lugia's furious voice rang loud and clear. "How dare you disobey the wisdom of one centuries older than you?! In time, you will understand my motivations—but if you maintain your disobedience, I must punish you!"

"I am not saying those words!" Lugia moaned, reaching forward and pulling Typhus into an embrace. "I don't know what is happening, Typhus!"

"Let go of me! I can swim fine!" Typh yelled. "Lanturn and I were just playing a game!"

Typhus had suddenly changed tone, and his voice was subtly different. Younger. Everything was so confusing and Lugia had no way to handle it. "What? Lanturn?" he said, before that other voice of his echoed around the cavern. "You will say goodbye to Lanturn today, and never go to meet her again. Can you do that for me, Typhus?"

"No…" Typh said, weeping in Lugia's wings. "Don't make me. She's my best friend."

Lugia closed his eyes, thinking it all had to be a dream. He had never been very successful at controlling his dreams when they were based on his worries, but he could still try to will himself awake. If that failed, he could escape the cavern and hope for a more pleasant scene to unfold. But that was altogether unpredictable.

When he opened his eyes, Typhus was gone. Lugia was still sitting on the rocky ledge, but it didn't feel weird anymore—he was small and fit easily. He said a few random words in his little voice, as if expecting to hear himself say mean things again. But everything felt normal.

"Feel better, Gale?" said a big Lugia surfacing from the pool. "I told you a decent nap would help."

"Thank you, Father," Lugia yawned. "I had a bizarre dream."

"We all do, occasionally. I believe your mind just cleared up some junk for you. Wouldn't be surprised if it still is." Lugia's father tilted his head. "Was it scary?"

"I don't know…"

"Well, Galey, while you were sleeping, I was thinking. I've considered things and decided. Even though we normally visit the ocean every day… we can stay here in this cavern hideout of ours for another month or so. You just love being out here so much—"

Lugia roared with joy, though a small and high-pitched roar it was. "Oh, thank you Father! Thank you so much! You're right—I love the ocean the most out of everything!"

"Ah, so you love it even more than you love me?"

"No! I only meant—"

Giving his son a loving nuzzle, the father rumbled, "I know what you meant, heh." He looked Lugia in the eye. "I'm always so glad to see you happy, but… we need to work on your temper. It'll be a problem if you lose it when you're older. Got to keep it reined in, so to speak."

"I wish I hadn't gotten cross with you," Lugia said, hoping his father would forgive him.

"It's fine. I just wish we had all the time in the world…"

"What do you mean? We have centuries and centuries to live, don't we?"

"Never mind, Gale. Let's go swimming again—this time, I'll let you lead!"

Lugia was about to leap into the water when someone tapped his wing. He turned around to see someone familiar—but in the gruesome state he had been found in after the storm. Covered in gashes and bruises, and with one wing limp and bent at an unnatural angle, the bloodied Typhus made his future father scream in fear and dive into the pool.

But he landed in the wings of another Lugia, and it was Raios. "Lugia?" he asked.

"He wants to be one of us," Typhus groaned. "I'd normally approve, but… look what happened to me. Maybe he should get as far away from you as possible. I mean, you've already hurt him before."

"Don't worry, Lugia," assured Raios. "This is a—whoa!"

Raios was suddenly his true Latios form, but way younger. Too small and scrawny to hold Lugia's weight anymore, Raios squealed as the two of them plunged into the ice-cold water, Lugia landing on top of him—

And then the two of them woke up.

"Whew. What was up with that dream?" Raios said gently, touching the roof's surface as if to test its realism. He was seated right next to Lugia. "You were a kid, and it turned me into one too… and Typh was there. We were all little."

Lugia buried his head in his wings. "I suppose I was reliving the past… and various scenes all ran together. It looks like you freed me from another troubled dream, friend." He sagged. "I tried to grow larger here, but I could not relax with Ho-Oh on my mind. So I induced a placid state within me."

"And you accidentally fell asleep," Raios finished.

Lugia nodded. "Thank you for waking me, but now I have even less time to complete my task. You may stay, if you can remain completely and utterly quiet." Lugia made himself comfortable again, sitting up straight and letting the wind relax him.

"But… I want to talk," Raios said quietly. "Ho-Oh told me a story about what you two were like. All the way up to when your tower burned down and she left to search for you."

"How did she say the fire started? That is what you want to discuss, I know."

"You made a thunderstorm to help her in battle, but it struck your tower instead… is that really what happened, Lugia?"

"Yes… I was meaning to tell you the truth, but I was reluctant to do so with Typhus around."

"Why say the wrong thing?" Raios asked, trying not to make it sound like an accusation of lying. He just wanted to know.

"I wanted Typhus to be wary of humans, so I told him that they were responsible for the loss of my home. When I told the story to you, however, I changed the culprit to Ho-Oh because I knew how much you favored the humans. Last night, I told my son the Ho-Oh version because you blurted it out… I hope he is not too irate when I tell him that that one is false as well."

Raios shook his head. "He was there when Ho-Oh told me, you know."

"Oh… oh. I see. How did he take it?"

"He's just amazed by what really happened. I don't think he's mad at you."

Lugia felt strangely happy. No more worrying about hiding his past… "What a relief that it is settled, then." He sighed and fell on his back with a thump, laying his neck flat and staring backward. "Ugh. I doubt I will be able to keep things off of my mind now… I am glad you came, though. I am glad that, somehow, this journey led to reconciliation between Ho-Oh and myself. I never expected that when we set out."

Raios stood over him. "It could feature reconciliation with you and another person too," he hinted.

"Of course. You're right. What you brought up over there… I have been thinking about it, as promised."

"Thanks."

"Upon turning it over in my mind, I now understand why you would feel attached to me. You were just concealing it so well that it felt sudden and strange."

Raios knew where he was going. "It's okay, Lugia. I forgive you for all that."

"Okay, then." The older Lugia opened his mouth wide to the sky and yawned. "It might be that some of my concern now is on your behalf. If you want to be my son, after all, you would have to become a Lugia more permanently. That means that to some degree you do not have the desire to remain a Latios. I would not like for you to abandon your true heritage."

"While it is sort of sad to think about," Raios said, "think about it this way. I tried for a long time to find others, and it didn't work. Both psychically and physically, they're either not around or making sure that I can't detect them. So why should I stay a Latios? A Latios isn't like you or Ho-Oh, where you can live alone and be fine. We need a group to support us. So when I couldn't find anybody, I got really lonely and depressed, until you called me back and we planned this thing we're on right now.

"What I mean is, whenever I'm a Latios I'm not thrilled. It sucks. I'd rather be a human, since we're in a world stuffed with them. Or a Lugia, because I happen to know a couple of good ones…"

Lugia chuckled. "And I see now why you would do anything for anyone claiming to be a Latias."

"Yeah, let's not talk about that." Raios paced in a slow circle around Lugia. "But seriously… I would be happier as a Lugia like this. I still fly, and I'm still a natural psychic, and you're already… well, I look up to you. You know so much, and you're really wise. And… and you do anything for Typh."

"I believe I have been more than lacking in sagacity lately. But thank you for those kind words." Lugia arched his neck to look at Raios, and he could easily see the longing in his eyes. "It is all mutual, you know. I have been constantly impressed by your psychic prowess."

"That's pretty much the only thing I have going for me, though. I just trained that stuff since I had nothing else to do."

"I know, but only a very inquisitive and sharp mind could attain the skills that you have. And that is not the only notable thing about you. You are an uplifting optimist when you aren't bogged down by personal matters. Furthermore, I admire the way you helped when we were in Typhus's mind. He told me you were like a leader. And I can see that not just in the context of a battle but also in your general disposition. After all, you were the one who led me to Ecruteak City by the collar!" Lugia reached a wing up to his neck and realized that the stretchy but comfortable band was still there. "I should continue to wear this, in your honor!"

Raios smiled at Lugia's playful thought and the preceding slew of praise, but the question burned in his head. That one question which had returned. He needed to ask it. "Well, Lugia? What do you think? Can I be your son? This time, I… I won't get upset if you say no."

Lugia sat up and looked hard at Raios. His heart grew excited, both physiologically and emotionally speaking, and he took deep breaths to keep his mind from racing along with it. The idea of him adopting someone was unheard of… but did that matter? Raios made a fine Lugia, and it was quite possible that he was currently indistinguishable from one, ignoring his anomalous size and his eyes of blue instead of silver.

But he felt remorse that Raios would be exchanging one kin for another. Something was intrinsically pitiful about giving up one's species. By becoming a Lugia, Raios would be doing his red- and blue-winged legacy no favors. He would be dead to the Latios and Latias of the world.

No… a change of identity was necessary sometimes. Lugia had tried it, and it had not been so terrible. He had actually greatly enjoyed being Salamence, with his fangs and claws and dragon sensibilities. He had never thought of staying permanently as that crawling dragon, but still…

Lugia shook his head, which made Raios downcast for a moment. But Lugia had only been pushing aside the logic going back and forth—it mattered little, and he knew he had to use more of his guts in his decision. He had to take into account the happiness of not only Raios but also himself… and Typhus, who had taken quite a liking to him.

So he decided. It seemed so clear in retrospect. "You are no longer my friend, Raios."

He held his wings up for him.

"Come here, my son!"

Raios's eyes went wide, and he ran up to Lugia, knocking him over in a Typh-strength hug. Neither of them thought about anything for a minute—they just laughed and showered each other with love, both quite delighted that the interaction was now appropriate. Maybe they had been waiting and hoping for it the whole time.

"You are too much of a treasure for me to let go," Lugia said quietly. "I did not realize that last time, but now I am as much your guardian as I am Typhus's."

"Thank you so much!" cried Raios, hardly able to get the words out. "Everything's going to be so different now!"

"I only have a few things to ask, friend. I mean, my son. They are not demands or the conditions of my love, but I wish for you to heed them all the same."

Raios could finally follow Typh's example proudly, albeit with tears flowing. "Anything at all… Dad!"

"Ha, this is wonderful!" Lugia squeezed his new son tight. "Alright, this is what I ask of you. The three of us are going to live together, and you have some swimming practice to do… but I sense a new adventure in our future. I owe Typhus a journey over land, and I expect that we will explore many new places and see all kinds of wonders. If, Raios, we happen to come across any Latios or Latias along the way, and they are benevolent and accepting of you… well, I would like you to stay with them. It seems unlikely, I know, but I do not want you to forget your origins. If the opportunity presents itself, they deserve to have such a remarkable person as yourself more than we do.

"Also, another thing. I am not sure if you will be a Lugia in every way imaginable, but it seems likely, and if so… there is the question of your reproduction. Please do not take offense when I request that only Typhus have a son. It would disrupt nature's careful balance if you were to have offspring, doubling the population of what is meant to be a solitary species."

Raios nodded, still holding Lugia tight. "I get it, don't worry. And the first thing… I'll agree to that too."

"Very good. Ah, I feel so elated! And I'm sure Typhus will be unable to contain himself when he hears the news."

The conversation paused for a minute, and Raios took the chance to follow a curiosity of his. "I know it's less comfortable for you… but do you want to talk about what Ho-Oh said for a minute? I have a question about something."

"Sure, my son. I assume that she was very accurate, more than I have ever been with that event."

"Yeah, but she didn't know a couple of things." Raios finally broke his embrace with Lugia and sat down at his side. "When that guy beat you, she saw him get all close for a minute and then go away. What did he do?"

The two of them gazed at the horizon as Raios waited for his new father's answer. "It sounds mysterious," Lugia said, "but in fact it was very simple. That man who bested me took a feather as his prize. They seem white on us now, but after being detached for a while they turn a beautiful silver. But it took him a while to find one that still looked pristine after all the abuse I took." He chuckled, finding the act a little humorous now. "I suppose the technology at the time was not advanced enough to master large, mighty creatures like us. He settled for a souvenir, capturing just a tiny fraction of me."

Raios wanted to move on to Typh and how Lugia's whole fight with him had started… but it seemed mean to fire away with questions about all of Lugia's past. He'd already been kind enough to admit his lying and share some true details. When it came to the issue with Typh, Raios already knew it had to do with Typhus having less of a love for the sea. And maybe that's all he needed to know. Typh would tell him if he felt like it, Raios figured.

"What is on your mind, Raios?"

"Uh…" Sharing his thoughts would defeat the purpose of said thoughts, but thankfully Raios had something else to say. "I just realized… if I'm going to stay a Lugia, I need to change size. I haven't done that before."

Lugia nodded. "I can teach you, as you taught me the skill of transformation. We can even start now, if you feel you can be relaxed. Personally, I'm still rather excited."

"Me too, but can we try anyways?"

"Certainly." Lugia smiled and concealed his eagerness—he could finally have a shot at instruction, and it pleased him immensely that it was now a lesson from father to son. "Take deep breaths and relax your body as I explain the process to you. It may help if you lie on your back." After Raios was on his back seeing everything upside-down, Lugia continued. "I suppose it is akin to meditation. You begin by reaching that malleable mind-body state, the same one that we use to transform. But instead of manipulating that state to change your body shape… you become calm and in tune with the world around you. It is nothing mystical—simply put, only with utter tranquility inside can you be so free as to take in material from the world around you and add it your own. If you wish to shrink, you do the reverse and release part of yourself. Both directions are painless and in fact relax you further."

"So to get bigger, I take things around me and that mass becomes mine?"

"Correct, but it is subtle. You take from the air, or the insides of objects, and the substances that you collect are so random and small that it is unnoticeable."

"But… if I take a big amount of weight, doesn't that mean that much weight disappears around me? What if we mess up the tower a bit? Or what if I even take away from you?!"

"I will not suffer if we both grow simultaneously, but that is a solid point. Perhaps it is so. When I developed this technique, I only practiced alone, with small size differences." Lugia stood up and stretched, gazing at the land in the distance. "Let us take to the forest just over there, then. Sundown is coming soon, so it should be fairly tranquil."

"You can tell me more about what to do on the way." As they took off from the roof into a smooth tailwind, Raios laughed to himself. "I'm glad you can teach me something psychic for a change."

"I'm quite relieved that I don't have to teach you to fly, to be honest."

* * *

"So you fled in the night, and he made a storm in his fury," Ho-Oh said. "I do not know, Typhus… your father might have been equally desperate to find you, and his agitation resonated with the stormy weather. Of course, I am ignorant as to how he exactly affects the atmosphere."

Typh sighed. "He probably was panicking. But mad, too. I know for sure he was mad."

"That may be, but… oh, I see your father has taken flight! And Raios. They are flying north, look."

"Where, though?" Typh asked quickly, moving to the railing and squinting. "Just the woods? What could be going on over there?"

"I am not sure, but if they had wanted us to come they would have fetched us. I know, I know—you want to follow. But look at how happy the two of them are." Ho-Oh, with her sharp vision, could see Lugia pretty clearly even at that distance, and he had his mouth hung open in what must have been a laugh. "They must have had a marvelous breakthrough and probably need some time to enjoy it together."

"You think my dad's gonna let Raios be my brother?"

"I cannot offer any meaningful prediction, other than by observing that Raios is a very good person who deserves more happiness than he has. His adoption by your father would please me greatly."

Typh smiled. "Yeah! He's totally going to be my brother!"

Ho-Oh turned from the two Lugia in the background to Typhus. "It was enlightening to hear your tale, and I know you feel good about it too, but now we need to settle a few things, don't we? I still wish to speak to Entei, Raikou, and Suicune—there is something about them that Lugia has not told me. And, of course, some of our friends need to be released from the capture of human tools."

"Well, we only have Raios's ball. And we need him with us to release him, right?"

"If I understand the process correctly, then yes." Ho-Oh spread her wings for flight. "But we shall meet with Entei, Raikou, and Suicune. We need to verify that they are still where Morty indicated them to be, and we can accomplish that without Lugia or Raios."

She lifted into the air, but Typh held onto her foot before she could depart. "Wait! I can't fly!"

"Oh! Raios is the one who flew… of course." She landed, giving a small apologetic nod. "I cannot lift you telekinetically like your father can, but I can carry you in a simpler manner." Ho-Oh lowered herself, and Typh climbed onto her back, feeling absolutely strange as she took off.

After he got used to riding her rhythmic motions, he said, "Thanks, but I feel so weird doing this!" He felt like such a burden, even though Ho-Oh seemed to be enjoying the exercise. Hadn't she just been in a big battle? Typh concluded that she had a lot of endurance from traveling around for so long.

"Riding is—huff—the better option!" Labored breaths still broke Ho-Oh's speech, as she was saddled with a heavy weight. "Would you—huff—rather be held in my talons, where—huff—you are as likely to be cut into—huff—as you are to be dropped?"

Ho-Oh laughed as Typh stammered, "Um! No, this is fine, thanks!"

They flew to Lugia's tower and landed on the side facing away from the city streets. A short distance away, on the foot of the grassy hill, stood two empty cages. There was also a large block of ice resting nearby, and when Ho-Oh approached it she gasped—a human was trapped there, in his own icy cage.

With a quick jet of fire, and then a wider throwing of flames, Ho-Oh made short work of the ice, freeing the frozen person. His gaudy purple outfit looked soaked, but he only seemed pleased to see Ho-Oh and Typhus.

"Incredible! You're Ho-Oh! And you're the small Lugia!" said what must have been Eusine. "Morty said to wait here for you, and for an hour or two I thought it was a joke. Thank you very much for thawing me out."

"You are welcome," Ho-Oh bowed. Typh hesitated a moment before mimicking her gesture. "I wonder who could have done such a thing. And to just _leave_ the poor human here—"

"It was Suicune, you know," said Eusine, looking at Ho-Oh with a bit of embarrassment—like he wasn't sure she could understand. "It doesn't like me very much."

A voice from behind made Typh jump, but Ho-Oh turned around calmly. "With good reason," Suicune said, bowing to the golden bird. "Ho-Oh. What an honor."

"Oh, I see how it is. Bow down to Ho-Oh, but not to me." Eusine let out a nervous laugh before adding, "That was a joke, Suicune! Humans make them sometimes."

"Please, shut up—"

"I was given directions for releasing your friends, Suicune," Ho-Oh said, ignoring the side remarks. "This human is to take them, in their balls, to a center where they can be released." She looked to Eusine and nodded, hoping he would get the idea. When he only stared at her blankly, she bent down and pecked at the spheres on his belt—and then he sprung into action.

He said, "Oh! I already got them released, Ho-Oh. Aren't you impressed?"

"I—"

"Don't answer that, actually. Here, let me free them." He pulled out two balls, and with a short flash and low beep from each, released the individuals inside. One was red and clearly fiery in nature, and the other seemed to be agile like lightning—but it was hard to tell when the yellow tiger was lying there asleep.

"Whoa, it's Ho-Oh," Entei said in an oddly calm manner. "Your fire is pure and sacred. I'm a big fan. Oh, and I'm Entei. This sleepyhead here is Raikou."

"It is a pleasure to meet you three," Ho-Oh said as Suicune joined her friends and kicked Raikou awake. "This is Typhus, Lugia's son."

"Hey, I know you!" Raikou yawned. "I tried to rescue you when Eusine was sneaking you here, but I sorta… well, I didn't think it through. Sorry."

Typh liked Raikou. "Thanks anyway. We all got free in the end."

"I met your father. He was a dragon, and a really nice one." He almost mentioned how Suicune had frozen the daylights out of him too, but that was a mistake that didn't need to be brought up.

"He's back to normal now."

"Can he turn me into a Skarmory?"

"I _know _you're talking, I just know it!" Eusine insisted, earning himself a frigid glare from Suicune. "But… my role here is done. How unbelievable it is to see so many legendary Pokémon standing here with me. Good luck to all of you! Especially you, Suicune." He sighed longingly. "I did many wrong things in my desperate hunt for you, but now I will leave you be. It might be selfish of me to ask for no hard feelings between us, but…"

Ho-Oh saw the exact look of regret in Eusine that she had seen in Morty. "Let him pet you," she whispered to Suicune.

"What? No… he gives me the creeps! If this really is the last I see of him, I'll be so happy. Overjoyed."

"So if this is the last time, let him leave with a resolved feeling of success. A small victory and peace, not disappointment and regret. He clearly admires you very much."

Suicune respected Ho-Oh enough to listen to her. Maybe Eusine did deserve a kind of consolation for working so stupidly hard. With a bark, Suicune got him to turn around, and she walked right up to him. "Go ahead," she said. "Two fingers only, down the back. No sudden movements."

"Suicune… is this a goodbye? Can I…?" Eusine reached out a hand and rested it on Suicune's head. "You're cool, like a breeze. I really have been going about this the wrong way, too confused by myths and legends to treat you like a friend."

"So now you realize." To Suicune's surprise, his hand felt clean and warm. "Yeah, what a shame," she said plainly.

As Eusine slinked away up the hill, Ho-Oh expressed her gratitude—but Suicune just shook it off. She gazed at the mysterious man as he disappeared, wondering if it would really be for good.


	19. Full Circle

19. Full Circle

"I wish I hadn't been so moody."

"Quiet, now. All of that is over." Lugia joined Raios on the grass, lying down on his back again. They had managed to find a space in the forest that was more hidden than a clearing, yet spacious enough to accommodate their impending growth.

Raios scooted sideways away from his father. "I guess I'll give you some more space. I mean, it'll be gone in a bit."

"Raios, would you like to know why I rejected you the first time but not now? It is surely on your mind, and I know you prefer to have your questions answered."

"Were there reasons you didn't say?"

"Yes, exactly. The idea of a Lugia raising a Latios wasn't natural, but that was only one of my qualms. I also feared for my own son, who had not even existed as an egg yet. How would he feel about being younger brother to someone who wasn't even his kind? I would have felt cheated, and perhaps even resentful.

"I knew I had a responsibility to raise a son, but only one—one conceived by me. I knew it could not be you, and so I turned you away. My worst fear was that, if I said yes, my future Lugia son would grow to loathe you and force me to expel you from our lives. After all, my bloodline obligates me to favor him over you. That kind of rejection would hurt you many times more than if I just denied you from the start."

"Oh…"

"I never… I never mentioned those reasons to you because I thought you would misunderstand."

"It's okay. Typh and I are already friends." Raios actually agreed more with Lugia now that he knew more of his thoughts. "You know, I'm okay now. You don't have to keep sharing these things with me, if they're private."

"You deserve to know _those _details, since they concern you." Lugia chuckled. "And it seems like everybody has been confessing left and right lately. Confessing and confiding. I rather like the feeling—we are clearing the way for good times, the four of us. Ah, this is decent… I'd rather be floating in a waterlogged cavern, not lying in the dirt, but quiet is quiet. No one is around to witness our outlandish presence here, either."

Raios nodded in agreement. "Well, let's do this now. I want to be big already!"

"Indeed, so do I. But you are very excited, which will block your efforts. Think not of your goal. Merely close your eyes and relax yourself into the transformative state." Once Raios shut his eyes, Lugia gave the rest of his directions. "We are both returning to our intended scales, which is fortunate. It is less difficult to return to one's natural size. Like I have said, you will sense when you reach it."

"Going in the other direction gets harder and harder, doesn't it?"

"It does, in fact. I discovered that when I reduced myself at the start of our journey—it became quite challenging to push toward the relatively tiny size of a human. I only made it to the size of Salamence."

"It worked out great in the end. I don't want to know what would've happened if you had been a human through all this."

"Ha. Yes. I certainly would not have enjoyed it as much." Lugia adjusted himself, trying to find a supine position on the ground free of sticks and rocks poking into his back, neck, and tail. "At any rate, let us focus on this."

They rested for a while, neither saying a word. A gentle silence fell over the woods, only intruded upon by the occasional whispery travel of leaves on the wind. While plenty of transformation practice had left Raios with the ability to focus even in distracting circumstances, the inner calm he found in the forest was deeper. It went beyond what he was used to.

Soon the world around him, even though he couldn't see it, felt tantalizingly close. He couldn't describe it, but… any closer, and the environment would've been a part of him. And he noted that that was the whole idea. He continued at that level for a time, keeping his mind still and carefully resisting the desire to explore the feeling. That would shortly drop his focus, since he was inexperienced so far.

Eventually a strange sensation came over him, completely unlike the inflating feeling he expected. He became aware of an exchange of sorts—a flow, like Lugia had said—between himself and his surroundings. What was being exchanged though, he had no idea. With a careful psychic nudge he tipped the balance gently in his favor, so that he received more substance than he sent away. He didn't notice any physical difference, so he increased the flow's imbalance and waited, feeling some sort of calming buildup. It took him several minutes to realize that the accumulation was literally his growth.

"Whoa!" he said, sitting up. In his excitement, he didn't mind having to get in the zone again. "I was growing! I felt it." But when he looked around, it was clear that he hadn't gained much.

"Good!" Lugia said as he peered at Raios, craning his neck. "Alas, I'm afraid I cannot estimate how much you've grown, as I have grown myself."

Raios stared back at his father on the ground, positive that Lugia was nearly a foot taller. "Yeah, you grew more than I did."

"It's no competition, my son. It may seem like you have made slow progress for an hour's effort, but you are actually doing quite impressively, Raios. I knew you'd learn to handle the flow speedily." He lay back down. "Reaching that point of control, however, is the challenge. So is patience. Take it very easy. Let us continue and rejoin the others when we can."

"Okay."

"Remember that this will take hours, and that it's best not to peek before you are done. You will feel a rut when you are at the correct size."

They kept at it there in the forest, motionless as the Lugia statues that dwelled in the Brass Tower—except for their bellies, which rose and fell with every slowed breath. Raios faintly realized that they were spending their first quality time together as father and son… and even though the outing was pretty weird when he thought about it, he still loved it. Every minute of it.

* * *

Ho-Oh returned to her roof to find Typh sprawled out with his head to the floor.

"What do _you_ eat, Ho-Oh?" he asked, lifting his fins up and down in boredom, catching fleeting breaths of the wind across his back each time. "I'm so hungry… but I want fish, and the sea's so far…"

Ho-Oh shook her head as she placed two more tree branches in a corner with the rest. "If I shared that with you, Typhus, it would surely damage my nobility in your eyes. It is nothing immoral, of course, but do believe me when I say that I am being courteous in not regaling you with the details."

"Oh, now I think I have an idea of your diet," Typh snickered. Ho-Oh really was a bird of prey, with the talons and everything. "You could've just said seeds or something."

"I have eaten certain large seeds before. But they cannot sustain me. And I will leave it at that. I'm sorry that I cannot procure any fish for you."

A defeated groan came from Typh. "I'll last for now… hopefully." He tried to think about other things. "I loved the way you melted those cages."

"Only by Entei's request." But Ho-Oh couldn't conceal her pride, and she added, "After all that I have done today, especially the battle, I was rather impressed with the cleansing blaze that resulted."

"I know. And Entei fell in love with you on the spot."

"Did he now? I would prefer to interpret it as awe. Surely it was that." Ho-Oh sat in front of Typh's head, peering down at him. "So, Typhus, what is your conclusion about what they said to us? Could I have really given them life? I don't remember what happened, but they apparently remember me as the first thing they saw before escaping the burning tower."

"I know we can transform and things like that, but making new living things on the spot… that sounds impossible."

Ho-Oh didn't know why it worried her. Maybe the idea of having unknown powers unsettled her, or maybe granting life was, to her discomfort, a godlike ability. If Ho-Oh was sure of anything, it was that she was no god. "Yes… yes, it is ludicrous to believe that I can spawn new creatures simply because I witnessed another's death. It must be a human contrivance, nothing more than another legend."

"But where _did _they come from, then?" Typh looks to the darkened sky for insights. "Maybe they all went in there and got hit so hard they all lost their memories?"

"It is impossible to know. That is why I refrained from asking any of them for more details. Suicune was anxious to leave, no doubt to run far away from human scrutiny with her brothers. So that is that." She felt better off not knowing.

"I wonder if we'll see them again."

"Entei promised to return, but I would not be surprised at all if Suicune prevents him from doing so. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I can collect some more materials before night falls completely."

Typhus wallowed in hunger until Ho-Oh returned and dumped another set of branches in the corner. He had a funny question to ask. "Hey, can you swim, Ho-Oh?"

"Drinking, bathing, and every so often soaking in the rain are the extent of my dealings with water. Why do you ask?"

"I was just thinking… we Lugia are made for the water, but we're sorta like birds and we can fly like you. But you can't swim like us."

"Yes, how unfair. But I have no desire to swim, as my power comes from fire and submerging myself in water would diminish that terribly."

Typh nodded from his spot on the floor. "No wonder you didn't look in the sea. We were there the whole time… I wish you could've seen us."

"It stings in retrospect, but we're here now, are we not?" With a heavy flutter, Ho-Oh settled down in her roosting place up on the platform. "I recommend that you rest for the night. You will probably accompany your father during the ceremony tomorrow, and it will be early in the morning. And if you're anything like Lugia, you are a heavy sleeper."

"I hope Dad comes back soon," murmured Typh, figuring he could sleep right where he lay. "With some delicious food…"

He kept his eyes closed and waited for sleep, but his ravenous appetite refused to let him drift off, even after what felt like ages. Typh had no desire to bother Ho-Oh with his personal needs, but he couldn't help it—his stomach kept growling and he kept tossing, and eventually a rustling told him that Ho-Oh had been disrupted by all the restlessness.

"You really are hungry," she said through the dark with no trace of bitterness. "Two hours later, and you still cannot be still."

"Oh." Typh sighed. He could see Ho-Oh clearly in the moonlight, but her kind expression didn't lessen his embarrassment. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault. I wake quite easily."

Typh curled up into a shy white ball when his stomach rumbled louder than ever. "I can go over to the other tower, so you can sleep."

"A kind offer, Typhus, but I am sure your father would prefer that you stay with me."

"Yes, don't go!" went a deep voice. Lugia rose up from below with broad strokes of his wings, landing lightly at Ho-Oh's side. When Ho-Oh stood up and found herself at eye level with him, it was official—Lugia was back to his big self again. With a cheer, Typh did his usual thing and jumped into Lugia's wings, laughing with joy that his father could once again grab him tight without falling over.

The levity was contagious, too. "Ha! I feel such relief, Ho-Oh!" Lugia said. "I enjoyed being smaller and lighter, but… there is a simple satisfaction in being sizable. The world is not so threatening."

Ho-Oh nodded. "I can imagine. I used to wonder what it would be like to be small like a Spearow, until I saw how larger antagonists would always overpower them." When Typh backed away politely, she took her turn embracing Lugia, finally able to hold him like an equal rather than an unnaturally mature child. "I can see clearly now how much you've really grown, Gale," she said under her breath, stepping back from Lugia with complete respect. Lugia, now that he was fully grown, shone silver in the light of the moon. "You're stunning." She hopped forward into him, unable to resist a second hug. "And it feels much better to embrace you now."

"I beg to differ," Lugia said with a chuckle. "But in all seriousness… we've both matured, don't forget."

"Hey… hey, guys!" greeted another Lugia who poked his head up from below. He climbed onto the rooftop with a clumsy stumble, taking his time in staggering up to everyone. "I still have to get used to this. I'm so huge. And wow, my voice dropped." He suddenly guffawed at his own dumbfounded words. "I didn't expect to feel so heavy, but I guess now that sounds obvious—"

Typh, as always, dived in for a hug. "Raios! Dad taught you how to grow! That's so cool." He gave Raios a close look, impressed with the way he really was a complete Lugia. "I mean, in a way I'm kinda sad that you're bigger than me, but you deserve it after being all human-sized for forever. And I think I'm the youngest anyway."

Raios stood pretty squarely between Lugia and Typhus in terms of size. "I have no clue how age carries over for me, but I guess you're right. You're like my younger brother."

"Yeah. That makes sense…" Typh gasped. "Wait! Does this all mean that—that he's letting you—he said—"

"Yes, my typhoon." Lugia spread his wings. "Raios may not have hatched as one of our species, but he is now like us in most respects if not all of them. He is my son just as you are."

As Typh cried out with glee and Ho-Oh praised Lugia's decision, a thought occurred to Raios that made him smile. The four of them on the roof, with their entwined pasts and mutual fondness for each other, really felt like a family. Sure, Ho-Oh would probably squawk in protest if anyone called her a mother, but she was close to Lugia and it looked like she'd been taking care of Typh for most of the night. Raios felt a warm love for her as well as his fellow Lugia. He hoped nothing ever came between any of them ever again.

"What do you think, Raios?" Lugia asked, drawing him back into their conversation. "Now that my tower is reconstructed, we Lugia have two abodes to choose from." He seemed to know that Raios hadn't been paying attention, since he continued to explain. "Typhus wants to live on our beautifully crafted tower, in the company of Ho-Oh and humankind. I, of course, would rather return to the welcoming waves of the ocean, living there but visiting Ho-Oh as frequently as we like."

At least the debate—which Raios had seen coming for a while now—was civil so far. But he hadn't expected to have a say in it. "Oh no, I'm the tiebreaker?"

"I would not say that we are voting yet, or that a vote is even necessary. I'm curious about your preference, that is all."

"I don't know… I'd be really happy anywhere with you guys." Typh and Lugia both looked at Raios with hopeful, waiting expressions, which made him afraid to say anything more. He didn't want to let either of them down.

But Lugia eased up. "Well, if you have no input, I suppose we can stay here for a while." As Typh plowed into him in yet another hug, Lugia laughed, "You just love being out here so much, my typhoon. And we can always switch locales from time to time."

Ho-Oh concealed a yawn as she spoke up and said, "As pleasant as it is to host you all, and as overjoyed as I am to hear that you will stay here with me, I am rather exhausted. If I cannot sleep with Typhus around, then I stand no chance with you three together! You should go to your chosen home and make yourselves comfortable."

Lugia lifted Typh from the floor telekinetically. "Thank you, Ho-Oh. We will do just that, and it's about time that we all turned in." He walked to the edge of the roof, keeping Typhus from drifting away in the wind even as the young one made playful somersaults in the air. "Time to fly, Raios."

"Good night," bid Ho-Oh before the three Lugia took flight—one of them with plenty of assistance from his father.

* * *

Raios touched down on the ground and pushed the tower's door open, amazed that he had to stoop to fit through the opening. He made his way to the stairs, but grunted in hesitation when he found the steps and their passageway too small for him. He couldn't make it to the second floor without breaking something… or shrinking back, which he had no intention of doing.

But he could at least stick his neck up there. So he carefully climbed the stairs, with a few under each foot at a time, hunching over and trying not to slip. He winced whenever the wood so much as creaked, even though the whole place was brand new. When he reached the opening in the floor above, he rolled over onto his back and poked his head through, scanning the next floor for his belongings.

"There it is," he whispered. His bag was right next to a Lugia statue, right where he had left it. He brought it over telekinetically and loosened the straps as far as they'd go. To his amusement, the backpack still fit him—so he decided to wear it for a bit. It wasn't much weirder on his back than it was levitating in the air like a possessed artifact, Raios figured.

He started to make his way back down, but a voice calling through the darkness startled him.

"Who's there?" it said.

Raios lost his footing, catching himself telekinetically before he could tumble down the stairs. He lowered himself to the floor just as a flashlight's beam caught him in the eyes. The voice exclaimed, "What the—"

"Watch out," growled Raios, before he hastily repeated himself using telepathy. "Ow. You just blinded me."

"Lugia? Where is that voice coming from? Is that you speaking?"

It was none other than Morty, on some kind of night watch. "Yeah," went Raios. "You know Lugia are psychics, right?" He brushed himself off now that he was done crawling up and down the stairs. "It's me, Raios."

Morty ran up to him in awe, shining his light all over. "Raios?! No, Raios is a human!" His eyes rested on the backpack. "Unless you changed form?"

"Exactly. I transformed."

"Is… is it a blessing or a curse? I'd be happy to help you out if it's the latter."

"It's definitely not a curse. But it _is _a really long story. All you need to know is that I was never a human to begin with." Now for the awkward part. "That small Lugia that you caught earlier today… that was me."

* * *

The next morning, Lugia woke up to find a sleeping Raios curled up snugly under his wing. He looked around for Raios's backpack and found it resting in a corner, along with some clothes that were no longer usable by anyone.

"Glad to see you have returned," he whispered, even though Raios's detour had just been to the bottom of the tower. He patted awake both of his sons, eliciting groans from Typh and a faint little whine from Raios. "No, you can continue to sleep. I am only informing you that the ceremony will be underway soon, and that I'll take care of it. Seeing multiple Lugia, especially multiple offspring, would no doubt throw the masses into hysteria."

After hearing mumbled acknowledgements from the two of them, Lugia sat up and crawled to the front side of the roof. He watched the gathering of people below. Some people looked up and pointed at him, but most had their attention focused on Morty and the Kimono Girls by the front entrance. When their short speech drew to a close and celebratory poppers made their noise, Lugia seized the moment and stood tall, crying out into the wind. The power of the atmosphere surged into him and he fired his signature move—the aeroblast, the immense power of which even humans knew—into the sky. The rush of water and wind shot out and dissipated over the town in a glistening mist.

People gasped and cheered, and Lugia saw some harmless flashing lights from human devices below. Their enthusiasm surprised Lugia—he had endeavored to honor the ceremony alone, but it seemed that the small horde of humans felt equally blessed by his appearance. They all seemed so happy… and it could've been the very safe distance, but Lugia no longer felt threatened by any of them. Salamence's glimpse of human society had shown him that any truly evil humans were vastly counterbalanced by those with good or at least naïve intentions. He hadn't even seen any real villains at all, as even Morty had simply suffered from a lack of certain perspectives.

And if Lugia were to be captured, which was still his greatest fear, he had many friends on his side who would help free him. He was sure of that.

You won, Raios, he thought with half a smile. Satisfied with his special appearance and his most recent personal revelation, Lugia stepped back into privacy, ready to rejoin his sons in sleep. He only rested for about an hour before receiving a nudge from his newer son.

"Hi, Lugia," he yawned. "I mean, Dad."

"Good morning, Raios. The ceremony has ended. I showed the humans quite the inspiring aeroblast."

"Hopefully not to their faces." Raios stretched and crawled over to his backpack, which felt so little now. He telekinetically rummaged through its contents until he produced one of his typical red-and-white Poké Balls. "I don't know if you've been thinking about this, Dad, but Salamence was never released from his ball. So maybe you're still captured."

Lugia eyed the tiny prison, and his dismissive chuckle did nothing to hide his nervousness. He may have been caught before, but it had been while unconscious. "And you want to test it? Can't we have a morning meal first? You must be famished after all of that growth."

"Well, we can do that once Typh wakes up." Raios glanced at his brother, who was impressively still out despite the bright sunlight. "It'll only take a minute, and I'll let you out right away. It's just this flash, and you end up somewhere else… that's what it feels like. I promise."

Lugia sighed. "I trust you, son of mine. Try it, quickly." With that consent, Lugia braced himself as the levitating ball opened and a tracking laser made contact with his body. He felt queasy when his body seemed to turn red like the laser—and then the world distorted and vanished.

He knew he had become formless through some wonder of human technology. He felt peculiarly in motion for a second despite having no physical senses, until reality—or an imitation thereof—presented itself to him as a deserted pool of water lost in a vast, barren landscape. Its surface stood as smooth as polished stone, but Lugia only managed to lift a foot toward it before he was suddenly expelled, with the whole process executing in reverse. A flash of light brought him back safe and sound, though more than a little dazed.

"So it works," he said, sitting down to steady himself. "As astounding as the ball's transmutation features are, I would personally be loath to wait inside that inferior little universe for any period of time."

Raios understood and said, "It's alright. Don't worry, Dad. If you can handle that waiting for a bit, though, I can release you." He tried to scratch his head, but it didn't really work out with his big feathery wingtips. "I don't know if this is always true, but it seems like it tries to put in there something you'll like. So you can try to enjoy yourself."

"I think it would actually be a wiser move if I remain this ball's resident," suggested Lugia. "Haven't you stated that a caught animal cannot be caught again by anyone else?" He took the ball into his own telekinetic grasp. "If we keep this ball safe, no one can master me and deny me my natural, free-willed life! I can live in the satisfaction that I was only ever owned by a trusted friend. A friend who is now family." As Raios stowed the ball safely in his backpack, Lugia gave him a well-deserved nuzzle. "Besides, you are no longer capable of interacting with humans like you used to. I hope you don't mind. You're protecting Typhus this way as well, you know, which is excellent."

"Who needs humans when I've got you guys?" Raios said with a chuckle. "I mean, I was coping before… hey, look who it is!"

Out through the open door stepped one Kimono Girl, along with a very familiar woman who had ditched her lab attire in favor of some casual wear. A navy blue Trainer outfit, in fact. "Well!" she said. "I've gotten… more than I bargained for up here. Talk about a three-for-one."

The Kimono Girl who accompanied her backed away, apparently more nervous than amused to see that many Lugia in one place and so close. "Okay…" she murmured. "If… if they like you, they'll talk to you. They can do that. And don't mess with the kids." Then she whirled back into the tower.

Lynn identified the Lugia she knew from before—it slept in the back, its white coat bright in the sun. But in front of her stood a much larger Lugia, wearing a collar of all things, as well as one that still had room to grow. She carefully defused her overwhelming excitement—to be in front of not just one conscious Lugia, but two, was more than she could ask for! The largest one stood still and watched her curiously, while the somewhat smaller one shifted its weight restlessly as if mirroring her antsiness.

She felt the need to speak aloud to them, as if they could all lose interest and fly off at any moment. "I know I'm pretty lucky and honored to be here," she said. "It might not look like it but, well, I'm extremely excited that I could meet all of you. Lugia is my favorite Pokémon in the world, and researching your species has been my passion. Forgive me if I offend you in any way." She addressed the oldest one. "You must be the parent. Well… you're probably very pleased to have your young one back." When the largest Lugia nodded in response and turned to gaze back at the sleeping one lovingly, she let out a little gasp in awe—her research had made the possibility out to be dubious at best, but here she was, speaking to a Lugia who understood!

"Hmm… I understand that you are the one who first took in my son after that harrowing storm," said Lugia, speaking slowly so that Lynn could get used to the telepathy. He knew how shocking it could be at first. "My other son Raios told me that you gave your best, heartfelt effort. I appreciate that with all of my being."

"Well, thank you, Lugia," Lynn stammered, dearly wishing she had brought her notepad. After dealing with nothing but legends and flimsy accounts, and then a comatose patient, interacting with a living, breathing, and _talking _Lugia felt dreamlike. When she heard his words which indicated the presence of an intelligent and perfectly coherent mind, Lynn hardly felt like she was still studying and obsessing over a mere animal. "This is so… wait a minute. Raios is your son as well? Is he…?"

Raios smiled. The story sounded a little different now that he was described as being Lugia's son all along, but he went with it. "Yeah, that's me," he waved awkwardly, and he and Lynn both giggled. "I disguised as a human using some psychic things. I was originally just going to try to get Typh back, but his unwaking problem made things more complicated."

"I can't believe it… yet, I can." Lynn _really _missed her notepad—anything she learned from them would be the truth, and she was dying to record it! "So, that makes him your younger brother… and he's named Typh? Oh, he's waking."

"Actually it's Typhus, but I like being called Typh," said the typhoon himself. He joined everybody and yawned, causing Raios to yawn along with him. "I heard some stuff… you're the person who tried to heal me?"

"Well, I certainly did try. Your condition was precarious, though, and even achieving stability was a mirac—oof! Well!" Lynn squirmed at first when Typh brought her up in a big hug, but then she cast her arms around him as best as she could. "Seems like that wing's doing pretty well, then," she stated.

"It sucks that Morty had to take me away from you," Typh lamented. "He didn't help at all."

"I didn't climb all these stairs to talk about Morty," Lynn shrugged. When she was returned to the floor, she said, "Raios, I feel like something was odd about you the whole time… but that must be hindsight bias. I really am shocked to see your true identity. But I'm more awestruck by the ability that enabled you to mask it. Well. Way to steal Ditto's thunder." The backpack in the corner caught her eye, reminding her of Raios's human possessions. "I won't ask how you got your clothes, but how in the world did you obtain that Salamence? That couldn't have been an illusion." Lynn thought of the charming way it got startled by devices, and its gentle whines when it wanted something. "I liked that dragon, you know."

"I'm glad you do," Lugia said. "I was that Salamence. Raios knows more about human society, so I let him play the role of my master and lead me along. It was a very revealing experience, to say the least."

Lynn stepped back. "Well. As unlikely as all of this sounds, I have no choice but to believe you. Just incredible… Lugia, transforming… I had been walking with them the whole time. All three of you were in that room with me… Lugia expert, indeed. And no wonder the Salamence cried." She almost asked why they hadn't revealed themselves to her, but she knew their secrecy had been justified in every way.

"Raios and Typhus have both in their own way requested that you be rewarded by more than thanks for what you have done for us," Lugia continued. "And, according to Raios, you've tried in vain to study my species, hampered no doubt by my aversion to humans and our efforts to remain elusively hidden in the sea. Because—from what I have heard and also seen for myself—you deserve a break after so much toil, and because I respect your hunger for knowledge, I believe the three of us can indulge you for a while. You may ask us any questions about our kind, and we will answer." Lugia looked to Typh and Raios, who both eagerly voiced their agreement. "I only ask that you keep this information to yourself. Hold it close and treasure it if you wish, but share it with no one, or else strain our hard-earned trust in you."

"Of course," Lynn said with appropriate solemnity, more than ready to make that sacrifice. "Well, I have something to ask too."

"Oh? What could that be?"

"Could we switch places? And could you all sit down? It might be great for you, but our height difference is going to punish my neck otherwise."

Lugia nodded. "Ah, yes—how inconsiderate of me not to accommodate our tiny guest, so soon after being small myself!" He found humor in his own words, and Lynn laughed along with him, but not necessarily because she found the quip hilarious. It just struck her as funny that even the mature Lugia had a sense of humor. It was also intriguing to watch the Lugia's telepathy drop out in favor of rumbling, natural laughter. "Ha… shall we start, then?" he said after a moment.

Lynn took her new seat on the edge of the raised platform and readied her memory banks for the interview of her life. "Well… we might as well start with your life cycle. It must be unlike anything I have ever seen or read about in my life, because you are so few in number. My hypothesis has been that your species is one mostly linear family whose members reproduce asexually."

Lugia took a moment to process her statement. "That is correct, actually."

"Oh." Lynn "Well, don't worry. I still have dozens of questions to ask, and I'll come up with more as we go."

"In that case, I'm making myself comfortable," Typh said, lying on his belly. He tried very hard to keep up with the conversation, but it was only a matter of minutes before he fell asleep again.

* * *

Hours later, Lynn brandished her pen and began to outline a breathtaking Lugia report on the spot.

The three Lugia had been kind enough to allow her on the roof for the whole day, so she had taken the chance to go retrieve her belongings. Raios had helpfully carried her down from the tower and back up again later, sparing her the stairs. The short vertical trips had been downright exhilarating, and Lynn was grateful that Raios's friendliness as a human had been no act. He had even offered to fly her around in the sky, but she had politely refused—she had tons of information to put down for future personal reference. And, to be honest, the flight sounded too intimate an experience for her and Raios to share, even if he only saw it as fun.

So Raios left, along with his brother, in search of something to finally eat. Their father's stomach rumbled too, but before he followed after them he asked a question. "I am not nearly as inquisitive as you are, Lynn, but I do want to know one thing—how did you come to be so interested in my kind?"

"Well," Lynn said as she looked up from her precious notepad, "there was this school project. We were to each select a Pokémon that had legendary status, _i.e. _one so elusive that all accounts of them describe it as a single individual rather than a population or group. We had to write a research paper on that Pokémon. I chose Lugia, because of a bit of family history." She shook her head in amused disapproval. "Morty kept telling me to pick Ho-Oh, because he thought that Ho-Oh was superior to Lugia. When I stuck with your species, well, he went ahead and picked Ho-Oh himself." Lynn nodded when Lugia tilted his head curiously. "Uh-huh. Morty and I. We were both in our late teens… if you know what that entails."

Lugia chose not to inquire about that and said instead, "You mentioned a family history."

"Oh. Well, whether it's true or not, a big story in my family is that my great-great-great-grandfather defeated Lugia, way back when the original tower stood here. He was supposedly the only human to win against Lugia. And he had a feather to prove it, although I suspect Pokémon like Lugia and Ho-Oh drop feathers regularly, just as other birds do. He was apparently buried with that feather… which is a shame if you ask me." Lynn would have loved to study one, but she lacked the guts to ask for a free sample.

Lugia made an unusual sound, halfway between a grunt and a whine. "I… I am at least glad that his determination was passed down to—to future generations, so that his descendants could put it to use for other goals. Goals that involve less brutality." He backed away and flapped his wings, taking off rather abruptly. "I should catch up to my sons. Thank you for sharing those details with me."

After hearing Lynn's farewell, he flew off and asked Raios telepathically for his location. Instead of hearing any message from his son, he felt a sudden change in his inner compass. In addition to the north he always knew, he became aware of a direction to the northeast. Impressed, Lugia followed that, taking pleasure in the cooling afternoon wind.

But he still felt a bit embarrassed to have been so shaken by Lynn's words. She was a good person and a great mind to speak to, and if _her_ ancestor really was the one who had beaten him, altering his personality irrevocably, causing him to set fire to his own home, changing the course of his life and a few others'… it didn't matter. In fact, it felt right in a cosmic sort of way. Everything had come full circle.

Lugia felt as fresh as the air he breathed. The wrongs he had inflicted, whether on Ho-Oh, Raios, or Typhus, were no more. He had no regrets embedded in his past, and his only desire was to enjoy the rest of his life with Typhus and Raios and flood them with as much as love as they could tolerate. He roughly knew Typhus's limit, but soon he would have to smother Raios and find out his.

"Raios?" Lugia called into the distance with his mind. "My son? How far are you traveling, exactly?"

"Oh, Lugia!" sounded Raios's mental voice brightly. "I mean, Dad! We found a big lake, with plenty of food! Are you coming? Typh's already in the water, feasting. And avoiding the angry… fish."

"I knew the food in your bag wouldn't sate him," Lugia laughed, speeding through the sky. "Save some fish for me!"

Lugia had mixed feelings about the concept of fate, but he could still appreciate how beautiful it was that Lynn, with her family history, had been the start of their journey. And now it was over, just in time for many more to begin. Though he was aware of the answer, Lugia wondered why he had been so afraid in the first place, of anything in the world.

A tear fell from his face, a single drop of joy. He did have one other goal in mind, he realized. He would change the attitude of his species, now that he had the opportunity as well as the wisdom to do so. He would support Typhus and Raios wholeheartedly, and together they would foster a tradition of adventure rather than caution. That would benefit future Lugia to no end, if they still remembered their natural responsibilities—and if any tiny part of him lived on in them, they surely would remember.

But all of that would happen one experience at a time. As Lugia joined his sons in the lake with one monstrous, carefree splash, laughing underwater and spewing bubbles, he felt incredibly like his life had begun anew.

And he found that he loved it much more than the sea.


	20. Epilogue

20. Epilogue

"I'm half ground?!" exclaimed the Flygon slumped in Lynn's padded office chair. "What? How? I fly!"

"Well, see for yourself," Lynn said as she handed the Flygon her Pokédex. "You're apparently fond enough of ground and sand to have that type designation." Sure enough, the device clutched in the Flygon's claws described his species as an inhabitant of desert areas, easily capable of generating sandstorms. And he learned that the lenses over his eyes, which tinted his entire vision red, served to protect him from all of that sand. The Pokédex mentioned something about Flygon being the "Desert Spirit" too, but… that just sounded cheesy.

"I wonder what ground moves are like," murmured the Flygon. "What they feel like when you use them, I mean." He hoped he wouldn't be too bad at them.

"Well, there's only one way to find that out. And maybe you can attempt to describe it to me, too. I honestly envy you creatures and your command over the elements." Lynn opened her office door, and the green desert Pokémon obediently followed her to the most important room in the building—spacious, clean, and featuring a deep pool of water in its center. The Flygon went up to the pool and sat on its raised edge. He would've dived in, but there was no shallow end and he had no confidence in his poor swimming skills. And maybe it wasn't ready yet, and jumping in would offend Lynn.

He imagined how the pool would look during a fight… heaving and spraying during a clash of mammoth water brawlers, or maybe eerily still as agile opponents sniped each other beneath the surface. "Are you starting soon? It'd be cool to watch you battle."

"In about a week's time. Well, I could start sooner… but I need to practice with my team some more. We haven't been in a serious battle for so long that I think some of them forgot a few moves." Lynn shrugged. "But you're welcome to train with us at any time. You'd be a valuable punching bag, like a wild card."

The Flygon protested, "I won't go easy on you!"

"I'm only kidding." Lynn gazed at the Flygon's only accessory, a slate blue band around the neck made from high-quality fibers. "By the way, do you all have collars now? I assume yours stretches like Lugia's."

"Yeah, it does. It's so that no one mistakes us for wild Pokémon. Oh, and the collar will identify us, no matter what we are."

"Well, you look great with yours."

"Oh—thanks! It's my favorite color," beamed the Flygon just as he heard a tapping at the door. The Gym's entrance was out of sight, but he spun around and jumped up nonetheless. "Hey, I think that's them!"

The Flygon followed Lynn eagerly to the glassy Gym lobby, where they saw Salamence pawing gently at one of the entrance's several glass doors. On his back he carried a sleeping Pokémon with a dark blue back and light underside. The dragon's mouth hung open happily when he saw the Flygon, and when Lynn unlocked the door he pushed through and gave his approval.

"You were right! You look impressive, Raios," he said. "What creature stands before me, my son?"

"I'm a Flygon," explained Raios as Salamence gave him a sniff. "They're desert dragons that live in Hoenn."

"We're dragon kin… excellent. As you can see, I opted to use the scaly form I am already familiar with." Salamence showed his living cargo. "And Typhus chose one of his favorites from Lynn's picture books. But the psychic effort drained him, so he will most likely be spent for the rest of the morning."

Lynn chuckled as Salamence's limp rider stirred but remained asleep. "Typhus the Typhlosion." She leaned in closer. "Seeing as you've circumvented the process of evolution, he must be the youngest Typhlosion in the world. Only marginally larger than a Quilava. Intriguing… and adorable."

"This is all yours now, Lynn," admired Salamence as they headed back toward the pool. "Aquaria, a pool so large that it could hold me even as a Lugia… it must be quite the enjoyable place for water Pokémon."

"Well, that's my type after all. Look." Lynn reached into her pocket and showed Salamence a small, silvery blue whirlpool shape. "A new badge was officially designed for me. I can't be a water Leader passing out a ghostly badge, evidently."

"I see. Congratulations!" barked the dragon. "Good luck in all of the bouts to come."

"Thank you. I'm excited, I really am."

Raios asked, "Do you think Morty would like all of this?"

"Well, he's not a water enthusiast by any stretch of the imagination, but… even after he turned the whole Gym over to me, I notified him of my renovation plans in their entirety. He didn't object to anything. He even suggested that I add large television screens to the lobby. They'll come later this week." Lynn sighed. "I almost want to be out there traveling with him, but I still have my passion and it's right here with you wonderful Lugia. And if Morty's really done with Ho-Oh and trying to find his next great pursuit… well, it makes sense that he should go it alone."

"I never got to see him depart," lamented Salamence. "I wish him luck, too."

Raios's Master Ball came to mind. Morty had kindly given it to him so that he could be in ownership of himself. "Yeah…" the Flygon said quietly to his fellow dragon. "I hope he comes back soon."

They sat on the empty stands and chatted about Lynn's plans, but she had little to say other than that she aimed to be a tough newcomer as well as a helpful Trainer advisor. She soon turned the questions around, asking Salamence and Raios about their path northeast to the mountains.

"It'll be tough over there, especially if you don't use roads and trails," she said with her arms crossed. "The Pokémon of those mountains are powerful—the best Trainers in the region test themselves in their caves and ridges, and even then they have a hard time. You might want to travel stealthily, or fly your way to the peaks, because you don't seem very experienced in your present forms. You must know this, but being legendary inside won't stop the wild Pokémon from making quick work of you three."

Salamence replied, "Ha. Yes, that's true. We will train ourselves as much as possible. And we_ can_ fly, but we wish to explore on the ground. According to Typhus, flying is akin to skipping past the journey."

"We'll just have to be extra careful when we get closer," Raios added with a flit of his wings. "There's a number of tricks we could do to stay safe."

"…Neck…" mumbled Typh as he reached a paw behind his head, scratching weakly. "Fire…"

"Well, I hope you three enjoy yourselves. Don't be gone for too long, or else people will fear that you've disappeared again." Lynn folded her arms. "As Gym Leader I have been making an effort to know this town, and… I'm surprised by how everyone loves Lugia. They love Ho-Oh, too. You've sparked something new in Ecruteak with your return."

"Wonderful," went Salamence. "And thank you. Maybe with your guidance, interactions between us and your fellow humans can be more than solemn, intimidating tower visits." He imagined a braver Lugia, who took to the streets without simultaneously descending into paranoia. "You obviously know more about what humans would enjoy—and you are in a position to organize such events."

"I'll be busy for a while, but that's a great idea. Are you very comfortable around humans?" To test that, Lynn reached her hand out for the back of Salamence's head—but she retracted it fast when the dragon snarled at her.

Salamence sank and hid his fangs. "I… I didn't mean to do that," he moped. "I cannot help it. You can stroke me now… I won't threaten you." Personal touches from anyone other than close companions had always been a heinous violation in Salamence's eyes, and he had reacted accordingly without thinking… but he would have to loosen up amidst touchy, feely humans. It wouldn't do for Lugia to reflexively slam an innocent person, dealing out grave injuries.

Lynn petted the dragon on the neck a few times, hoping it would ease him. But the touch sent chills down Salamence's back. "I'm sorry," she said when she was done. "I shouldn't have surprised you. And it was wrong of me to suddenly treat you like a pet. I'd probably have snapped too—hey!" Raios was putting himself beneath her other hand. "Well, it seems that_ you_ like it."

"I guess I do, haha," buzzed the Flygon, who had never been petted before. His pleasure suddenly evoked some jealousy in his father, which only made Salamence feel worse.

"All I can say, Salamence, is that you have nothing to fear from the average person," Lynn said. "If it is more a matter of personal space, then… well, don't feel pressured to force a change in yourself. With the right messages, everyone in town could know exactly how to respect you." Lynn continued to reassure Salamence, thinking it would make him feel better. "To be honest, you could probably rule over the populace, they adore you so much."

But Salamence only nodded, too ashamed to speak to the friend he had nearly bitten. Raios went around and sat at his side, saying, "It's okay, Dad. It was just a warning growl, right? It was either instinct, or for a second you forgot that you had a human friend."

"…Perhaps instinct triggered my specific reaction," Salamence murmured privately to his son. "But remember what I said about how intimate physical contact is for Lugia."

"But remember what_ I_ said about how you shouldn't try to think like Lugia when you're really someone different."

"I know, Raios. I know. I am trying my hardest."

Lynn checked the time and stood up. "You're welcome to stay here, but I should get back to my preparations. I appreciate that you've been coming to see me so often, given your rather elevated status over me."

"You are a proven friend, Lynn," stated Salamence. "Know that."

Raios smiled. "We'll be seeing you all the time, is what he means."

"But for now, we will take our leave." Salamence got to his feet levelly, making sure Typh didn't tumble to the floor. "Could you let us through the door again? You locked it as we came in, correct?"

"Oh, yes. Right this way…"

As Lynn showed the three Pokémon back to the lobby, she realized just how comfortably she had been spending time with them. Especially when they were fairly normal Pokémon, so that talking to them didn't feel like an audience with royalty. "I have to say… sitting here talking with anyone else would be time wasted in my book, but I don't mind having you around at all. Maybe I only truly feel at home interacting with Pokémon." Lynn sighed. "While that's an acceptable proposition, I wish more of them could speak like you do."

Raios and Salamence exchanged a quick look. The Flygon said, "I know I can't tell you how you're supposed to feel, but the skilled Trainers I've seen… they have a bond with their Pokémon. Even though they don't talk, they know each other enough to say lots of things without words. Maybe you can aim for that."

Salamence nodded. "Well said. Unbridled empathy is communication at its purest."

"…You're perfectly right about that. Once again, I wish more Pokémon could speak like you do." Lynn said with a muted laugh. "Well, no, thank you for that beautiful advice. It's exactly what one would expect a Gym Leader to say, in fact. I hope you don't mind if I relay it to others in the future." She unlocked one of the front doors. "Well… have a nice trip, all of you. Stay safe. If the going gets tough, don't hesitate to magnify yourselves."

The two dragons gave their goodbyes, stepping out into the sun—Typhus finally lifted his head and glanced back at the Gym, dazed. Lynn waved once before turning around and getting back to her business. She consulted her schedule… and found it free for the time being. She had some time strengthen the bonds between her and her Pokémon. Bonds, she realized, that had been pretty neglected so far in favor of plain, dispassionate training.

She stood at the pool's edge and let out her Lapras, deciding to work with her Pokémon one by one. It'd be more personal that way. "Good morning, Lapras," Lynn said with a smile. "How are you doing? You couldn't perform a coherent Ice Beam last week… so we'll practice today. No, Lapras, it's okay! It'll be just you and me. We'll go at your pace."

The Lapras let out a big breath of cold air in what looked like relief. Lynn could tell from the way its eyes brightened that it loved having her full attention.

"Ice isn't much different from water, yet it can give us an edge over some Pokémon that counter water-types. So you can help us take on any foe," Lynn said to her Pokémon friend. "Isn't that right?"

The Lapras nodded eagerly.

"You have an important role. I know you're perfectly capable of carrying it out." Lynn got up and surprised her Lapras with an embrace around the neck. "Well, things are going to be different, Lapras. I've come to realize… that you're all like my family. I'm sorry that I treated you like animals to control."

"Oh, apology accepted!" The Lapras pushed his head into Lynn affectionately. "I'm so happy that you've had that epiphany. Everyone else on the team will be very happy, too."

Lynn jumped back. "What?! You—you can speak?!"

The Lapras bowed his head. "Raios taught me a few things about telepathy. I'm the only one on the team who can do it… I've been waiting for the right moment. I know you don't mind."

"Well, no." Lynn hugged her Lapras again, silently thanking Raios for giving one of her Pokémon such a marvelous gift. "I really don't."

* * *

"You know, I'm still sorta surprised it really doesn't hurt!"

"If it hurt, no fire Pokémon would ever want to utilize its natural elemental talents," Ho-Oh panted to Typh. She adjusted herself in her nest. "You are now a friend of flame, Typhus. It will not hurt you, unless you exceed your limits or an opponent manages to overwhelm you with it."

"Okay then…" Typhus rubbed his neck, feeling the pleasant warmth. His throat felt hot too, after all that fire-breathing practice. "Thanks for tutoring me, Ho-Oh." He coughed. "But I better stop before I sear myself."

"Fire will feel as natural to you as water does to your Lugia self… given enough time. And you'll improve your tolerance of its high temperatures." Ho-Oh looked up at the sun, which was directly overhead. "But… but I think it is time for you to begin your trip. Go on, get an early start."

Salamence came forward, stepping carefully into Ho-Oh's warm nest. "Go stand with Raios for a moment, my fiery typhoon." Once he and Ho-Oh had some space to talk privately, he said, "I know you're having troubles laying, but… are you alright? You look frail."

"I am fine," insisted Ho-Oh even as her head drooped. If things had been going well, she would have been resting on a single egg—relatively small, but still massive by the standards of any other bird—with a beautiful pattern of red and yellow swirling like fire. But things weren't going well, and Ho-Oh was driving herself to illness trying to produce that egg. "I am naught but worried."

"You don't think that you are unable to reproduce, do you?"

Ho-Oh sang a gloomy note, staring down morosely at the dragon in her nest. "It's a possibility… perhaps I wandered for too long, without carrying on with my life, until now it is too late. Perhaps the appropriate time has passed…"

"Don't think like that, Ho-Oh. No species can be extinguished so easily and abruptly. There must be a way."

"If there is one, then I will find it. But… ah…" Ho-Oh hid her face with one wing and brushed Salamence away with the other. "Now, please go—don't let me hold you from your latest journey."

Salamence nodded and climbed out of her nest. "Take care, companion of mine."

"Don't get hurt too far from home. And remind Typhus… not to ignite the wilderness…" Ho-Oh stopped and took a deep, steadying breath. "Yes, don't be gone for long… the ocean still needs a guardian."

"To tell you the truth… unless there is a disaster, or gross abuse of those world-spanning waters, my intervention tends to disrupt. The ocean is a wondrous system that governs itself, I've learned. Even Lugia is but a tiny fish in its pond." He smiled and twirled his tail. "But I'll always keep watch over it. I'm merely on vacation right now."

Ho-Oh closed her eyes in silent understanding, and she weakly put her head down. Salamence watched her with an unexplainable sadness, but found nothing else to say. He went to his sons, who had respectfully turned their attention away by peering down at the street. After Typhus climbed onto his back and held his collar tight, he took off, with Raios right at his side.

"Is she gonna be alright?" Typh asked when they landed in the forest below. He spoke quietly. "I don't want what she said before to be true."

"Like all troubles, hers will pass," said Salamence with as much confidence as he could muster. "Believe me."

Raios buzzed his wings to get their attention. As important as Ho-Oh was, he didn't want his father and brother to worry about something that was beyond their control. It was his duty as the optimist to cheer them up! "Let's look ahead, guys. We're in the forest, and our adventure starts…" He took a big leap, his wings vibrating loudly. "Right now!"

"Yay! Haha!" Typh leapt from his father's back, rolling in the leaves and jumping to his feet beside his brother. "Trees! So exciting, woo!"

As if to demonstrate the woods' capacity for high thrills, a branch snapped and fell from a tree in the distance.

"No, but this is really great. We're going over land, Dad! This is so cool!" After a few minutes of walking, Typh licked his mouth and said, "So… when's the first meal of our adventure? I'm super hungry." He eyed Raios's backpack, which had turned out to still be handy after all.

"We'll have to find most of our food out here," said the Flygon. "The snacks and water I brought are for emergencies."

"I've got an idea… what if we shrunk and made ourselves really tiny before eating? We would get so full, on just a little bit of food."

Salamence chuckled. "Think it through, my son. Upon growing back, we would immediately starve again."

"Oh. I wouldn't mind staying shrunken, though. I could ride on your head so I'll always be close by. And when it gets dangerous, I could hide in Raios's bag. But more importantly… I could feast on your leftovers!"

"Ha. Not until you further hone your psychic skills, I'm afraid. Besides, we have plenty of time for future adventures as tiny versions of ourselves, or massive ones, or what have you."

Raios couldn't keep the bounce out of his steps. He was traveling, like before… but this time, he had family. This time, his only goal was to be happy. And that would be so easy. He led the way with Typhus through a world of trees and streams and forested valleys, with Salamence hanging behind and occasionally rising up into the sky to search for lakes or ponds full of delicious fish. Their destination, the mountains, slowly rose up in the distance, and the wild Pokémon that showed up grew gradually stronger and less flighty. Eventually, every day was full of fights—but Salamence and his sons persevered, and their fighting skills improved little by little as they moved on.

"Do you think I'll ever have kids?" Raios asked Salamence one night, when Typhus had already fallen asleep from too many scuffles and too much telekinesis practice.

"As a Lugia, you could help Typhus raise his son. But you must be asking about having offspring of your own…" Salamence looked hard at Raios. "What is it? You certainly don't seem anxious to become a father just yet."

"I don't know… I just want to pass down something, you know? You have Typh, and he'll have his son… but I'll be on the side, with no lineage. I sort of feel bad when I think about how I might just… go out, without anyone to carry on after me." Raios whimpered. "I guess it's stupid. I should be happy with—"

Salamence prodded him gently. "Shh. Those feelings are perfectly natural. Be still, Raios… look at me. Even if we never cross paths with any Latias, and you never reproduce, you will always live on through your actions. You've affected many lives. Think about Lynn and where she is now thanks to you. She never said it outright, but I know she has realized more than one of her dreams. Think of Morty, who has made peace with each of us and achieved his dream of meeting Ho-Oh. He is searching for his new passion this very moment." Salamence's voice became very soft. "And think of us. Typhus is safe, and the two of us have struck upon a new, carefree life with you… but it is more than that. You've changed what Lugia_ are,_ Raios. And what future Lugia_ will be_. That is profound… more profound that I can express in mere words. Typhus's descendants are your descendants, O son of mine, and I would not have it any other way."

"All… alright, Dad," Raios said as his father nosed him with love. "Th… thanks."

"Have no worries about posterity. None at all. Your legacy was secured the moment I plucked you from the sea that stormy night." Salamence sank to the ground. "Now sleep, my son. Everything that matters is in the present… and at present you are very tired. Your eyes are positively red." He chuckled to himself and said good night, and within minutes he was snoring lightly, mouth agape just like Typh's.

Raios sniffled, wondering drowsily if the red lenses around his eyes would fill with tears if he cried. But he decided that he felt too happy to weep. Guided by instinct, he spent a while digging himself into the ground, making a shallow sleeping pit fit for an earth-loving Flygon. "Good night," he said into the darkness. "I… I love you. I love you a lot."

With a short yawn and one last flit of his wings, he curled up tightly in his hole, fading into sleep with only one simple thought: He had found his true family after all.


End file.
